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ASML (ASML) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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ASML (ASML - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $379.47, moving +0.86% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.67% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.57%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.61%.

Coming into today, shares of the equipment supplier to semiconductor makers had gained 3.72% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 10.76%, while the S&P 500 gained 7.78%.

ASML will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect ASML to post earnings of $2.58 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 55.42%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.25 billion, up 28.13% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.61 per share and revenue of $15.32 billion, which would represent changes of +24.96% and +15.43%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for ASML should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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. ASML is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, ASML is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 43.68. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 17.39.

Also, we should mention that ASML has a PEG ratio of 1.92. 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. ASML's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.08 as of yesterday's close.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 2, putting it in the top 1% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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