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Zix (ZIXI) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Zix closed at $7.04, marking a +0.57% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.7%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.58%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.69%.

Heading into today, shares of the e-mail encryption company had lost 14.84% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.68% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.95% in that time.

ZIXI will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, ZIXI is projected to report earnings of $0.04 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 50%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $27.48 million, up 65.05% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for ZIXI. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 26.34% lower. ZIXI is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, ZIXI currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.54. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 45.08, which means ZIXI is trading at a discount to the group.

It is also worth noting that ZIXI currently has a PEG ratio of 1.44. 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 Security was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.37 at yesterday's closing price.

The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 19, putting it in the top 8% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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 ZIXI in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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