Back to top

Image: Bigstock

American Airlines (AAL) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

In the latest trading session, American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) closed at $30.92, marking a +1.78% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 1.05% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.02%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.66%.

Coming into today, shares of the world's largest airline had lost 8.92% in the past month. In that same time, the Transportation sector lost 2.72%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.08%.

AAL will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect AAL to post earnings of $1.72 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 5.52%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $11.96 billion, up 2.73% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.06 per share and revenue of $46.34 billion. These totals would mark changes of +11.21% and +4.04%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for AAL. 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.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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 has moved 1.11% lower within the past month. AAL is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that AAL has a Forward P/E ratio of 6.11 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.8, which means AAL is trading at a discount to the group.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 191, putting it in the bottom 26% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) - free report >>

Published in