Gartner (IT) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
Gartner (IT) closed at $302.55 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.16% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 1.13% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.56%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.16%.
Heading into today, shares of the technology information and analysis company had lost 3.81% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's loss of 8.77% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.59% in that time.
Gartner will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.84, down 9.36% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.29 billion, up 11.31% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.08 per share and revenue of $5.38 billion. These totals would mark changes of -1.52% and +13.67%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Gartner. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Gartner currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Gartner has a Forward P/E ratio of 33.27 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 20.82, so we one might conclude that Gartner is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that IT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.99. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. IT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.45 as of yesterday's close.
The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 32, which puts it in the top 13% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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