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United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC - Free Report) closed at $9.44 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.43% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.51%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.44%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.1%.

Heading into today, shares of the company had gained 1.73% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 4.34% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.51% in that time.

United Microelectronics Corporation will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.26, up 73.33% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.23 billion, up 35.11% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.08 per share and revenue of $9.17 billion, which would represent changes of +30.12% and +20.37%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for United Microelectronics Corporation. 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.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. United Microelectronics Corporation is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that United Microelectronics Corporation has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.7 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 21.2, so we one might conclude that United Microelectronics Corporation is trading at a discount comparatively.

Meanwhile, UMC's PEG ratio is currently 0.26. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Electronics - Semiconductors industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.29 as of yesterday's close.

The Electronics - Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, putting it in the top 26% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow UMC in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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