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Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Cloud Peak Energy closed the most recent trading day at $0.38, moving +1.31% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.09% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.26%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.25%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the coal miner had gained 38.19% over the past month. This has outpaced the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 11.26% and the S&P 500's gain of 7.92% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from CLD as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be February 21, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.23, down 43.75% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $221.34 million, up 3.48% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for CLD. 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.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 6.75% higher. CLD is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

The Coal industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 11, which puts it in the top 5% 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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