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AT&T (T) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, AT&T (T - Free Report) closed at $29.22, marking a -1.32% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.36% loss on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the telecommunications company had lost 7.56% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 0.29% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.75% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from T as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect T to post earnings of $0.78 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 6.02%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $42.66 billion, up 4.18% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.17 per share and revenue of $173.29 billion, which would represent changes of -0.31% and +0.89%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.12% higher. T is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that T has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.35 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 47.44, so we one might conclude that T is trading at a discount comparatively.

We can also see that T currently has a PEG ratio of 3.04. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Wireless National industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.37 as of yesterday's close.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 33, putting it in the top 13% of all 250+ industries.

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


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