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Azure Power (AZRE) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Azure Power closed the most recent trading day at $8.58, moving +0.35% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 3.43%. At the same time, the Dow added 3.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 4.26%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the solar power producer had lost 14.5% over the past month. This has lagged the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 10.9% and the S&P 500's loss of 12.15% in that time.

AZRE will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 14, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.12, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $30.70 million, up 12.62% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of -$0.11 per share and revenue of $140.20 million. These totals would mark changes of +83.08% and +17.87%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for AZRE should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. AZRE is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that AZRE has a Forward P/E ratio of 427.5 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.15, so we one might conclude that AZRE is trading at a premium comparatively.

The Solar industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 28, putting it in the top 11% 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.

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

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