Agilent Technologies (A) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
Agilent Technologies (A) closed at $134.07 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.96% move from the prior day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.06% for the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.13%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.24%.
The scientific instrument maker's stock has climbed by 1.3% in the past month, falling short of the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 12.39% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.45%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Agilent Technologies in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on February 27, 2024. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.21, marking a 11.68% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $1.57 billion, indicating a 10.53% downward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $5.48 per share and a revenue of $6.74 billion, demonstrating changes of +0.74% and -1.42%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Agilent Technologies should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. Agilent Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Agilent Technologies is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.25. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 24.45.
We can additionally observe that A currently boasts a PEG ratio of 3.03. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Electronics - Testing Equipment industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.58.
The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 38, this industry ranks in the top 16% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) : Free Stock Analysis Report
