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Bull of the Day: Perion Network Ltd. (PERI)

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Perion Network (PERI - Free Report) , a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has broken out to the upside this year after clearing through a powerful cup-with-handle pattern. The stock gracefully sidestepped last year’s bear market, finishing strong with a positive return. PERI shares are now hitting a series of 52-week highs to kick off the New Year on increasing volume, and continue to display relative strength as buying pressure accumulates in this market leader.

PERI sports the highest Zacks Value Growth Style Score of ‘A’, indicating further upside based on favorable growth metrics. The company is part of the Zacks Internet – Content industry group, which ranks in the top 39% out of more than 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. This group has widely outperformed the market to kick off the new year:

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Also note the favorable characteristics for this industry below:

Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Historical research studies suggest that approximately half of a stock’s price appreciation is due to its industry grouping. In fact, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. It’s no secret that investing in stocks that are part of leading industry groups can give us a leg up relative to the market. By focusing on leading stocks within the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries, we can dramatically improve our stock-picking success.

Company Description

Perion Network is an international provider of digital advertising solutions to brands, agencies, and publishers. The company provides Wildfire, a content monetization platform, along with search monetization tools such as web mediation and website monetization. PERI also offers supply chain management services and an analytics platform that provides performance insights and other campaign metrics.

Perion Network boasts an artificial intelligence platform named Intelligent HUB (iHUB), which pulls in signals across various advertising channels and optimizes traffic at scale, all while yielding engagement metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Earnings Trends and Future Estimates

PERI has built up an impressive earnings history, surpassing earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters. Earlier this month, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $0.90/share, a 28.57% surprise over the $0.70 consensus estimate. PERI has delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 31.72%.

The PERI growth engine is expected to remain hot this year, as analysts covering the digital advertising company have increased their EPS estimates across the board. First-quarter estimates have been raised by +30% in the past 60 days. The Q1 Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate now stands at $0.52/share, reflecting potential growth of 57.58% relative to the same quarter in the prior year.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let’s Get Technical

PERI shares have advanced over 80% in the past eight months alone. Only stocks that are in extremely powerful uptrends were able to weather last year’s bear market so gracefully. This is the kind of stock we want to include in our portfolio – one that is trending well and receiving positive earnings estimate revisions.

StockCharts
Image Source: StockCharts

Notice how both the 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages are sloping up. The stock had been making a series of higher highs. With both strong fundamentals and technicals, PERI is poised to continue its outperformance.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. As we know, Perion Network has recently witnessed positive revisions. As long as this trend remains intact (and PERI continues to deliver earnings beats), the stock will likely continue its bullish run this year. Despite the impressive performance, PERI currently trades relatively undervalued at just a 12.31 forward P/E.

Bottom Line

PERI is ranked favorably by our Style Score Categories, with an ‘A’ for Growth and ‘B’ for Momentum, paving the way for an overall ‘A’ VGM score. Increasing volume at recent breakout levels is another bullish sign.

Robust fundamentals combined with a strong technical trend certainly justify adding shares to the mix. Backed by a leading industry group and robust history of earnings beats, it’s not difficult to see why this company is a compelling investment. Investors would be wise to consider PERI as a portfolio candidate if they haven’t already done so.


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