Here's Why Investors Should Avoid ZTO Express (ZTO) Stock Now
ZTO Express (ZTO) is currently mired in multiple headwinds, which, we believe, have made it an unimpressive investment option.
Let’s delve deeper.
Southward Earnings Estimate Revisions: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2024 earnings has been revised 1.1% downward over the past 60 days. The unfavorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ lack of confidence in the stock.
Weak Zacks Rank: ZTO Express currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Unimpressive Price Performance: The company’s shares have declined 26.9% over the past year compared with its industry’s 7.7% loss.
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Other Headwinds: Higher selling, general and administrative expenses are pushing up operating expenses for ZTO Express and hurting its bottom line. The domestic express delivery market is highly competitive due to the presence of big players like SF Express and STO Express. The company’s stock price may decrease if competition intensifies and becomes a hindrance.
Bearish Industry Rank: The industry to which ZTO belongs currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 241 (of 250 plus groups). Such an unfavorable rank places it in the bottom 4% of the Zacks industries. Studies show that 50% of a stock price movement is directly related to the performance of the industry group it belongs to.
A mediocre stock within a strong group is likely to outclass a robust stock in a weak industry. Therefore, reckoning the industry’s performance becomes imperative.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Transportation sector are GATX Corporation GATX and SkyWest, Inc. SKYW. Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
GATX has an encouraging track record with respect to earnings surprise, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters (missing the mark in the remaining one). The average beat is 16.47%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has been revised 8.9% upward over the past 90 days. GATX has an expected earnings growth rate of 6.51% for 2024. Shares of GATX have gained 26% in the past year.
SkyWest's fleet-modernization efforts are commendable. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SKYW’s 2024 earnings has improved 27.3% over the past 90 days. Shares of SKYW have surged 242.3% in the past year.
SKYW has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for 2024. SKYW delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 128.02%, on average.
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SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (ZTO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
