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American Airlines (AAL) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) closed at $17.55 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.15% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.04% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.22%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.93%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the world's largest airline had gained 18.67% over the past month. This has outpaced the Transportation sector's gain of 6.53% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.22% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from American Airlines as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, American Airlines is projected to report earnings of $1.53 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 101.32%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $13.72 billion, up 2.2% from the year-ago period.

AAL's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.98 per share and revenue of $52.96 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +496% and +8.15%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for American Airlines 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.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 10.31% higher within the past month. American Airlines is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, American Airlines is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 5.81. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.23, so we one might conclude that American Airlines is trading at a discount comparatively.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 39, putting it in the top 16% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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