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HP (HPQ) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, HP (HPQ - Free Report) closed at $28.59, marking a -0.94% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.37% gain on the day.

Heading into today, shares of the personal computer and printer maker had gained 7.57% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.04% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.13% in that time.

HPQ will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.88, up 41.94% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $15.47 billion, up 1.37% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.74 per share and revenue of $62.24 billion. These totals would mark changes of +64.04% and +9.89%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for HPQ should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.04% higher. HPQ is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking at its valuation, HPQ is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.73. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.9, which means HPQ is trading at a discount to the group.

We can also see that HPQ currently has a PEG ratio of 0.94. 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. HPQ's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.19 as of yesterday's close.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 31, which puts it in the top 13% 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 HPQ in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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