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American Airlines (AAL) Stock Moves -0.64%: What You Should Know

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American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $35.59, moving -0.64% from the previous trading session. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.82%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 2.21%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.7%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's largest airline had gained 11.38% over the past month, outpacing the Transportation sector's gain of 0.75% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.57% in that time.

AAL will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 24, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.01, up 6.32% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $11.07 billion, up 4.46% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.51 per share and revenue of $44.67 billion, which would represent changes of -7.58% and +5.84%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for AAL should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 6.51% higher. AAL is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, AAL is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.94. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.62, which means AAL is trading at a discount to the group.

Also, we should mention that AAL has a PEG ratio of 1.04. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Transportation - Airline was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.98 at yesterday's closing price.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, putting it in the top 40% 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.

To follow AAL in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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