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Here's Why You Should Give Air Transport Services (ATSG) a Miss

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Air Transport Services Group (ATSG - Free Report) is currently grappling with a host of intricate challenges, a scenario that we believe has significantly diminished its attractiveness as an investment opportunity.

Let’s delve deeper.

Southward Earnings Estimate Revision: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-quarter earnings has been revised 65% downward over the past 60 days. For the current year, the consensus mark for earnings has moved 56.5% south in the same time frame. The highly unfavorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ lack of confidence in the stock.

Weak Zacks Rank and Style Score: ATSG currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Moreover, the company’s current Momentum Score of F shows its short-term unattractiveness.

Unimpressive Price Performance: ATSG shares have lost 27% year to date against its industry’s 0.3% growth.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Other Headwinds: Air Transport Services is suffering due to weak demand for cargo aircraft. An increase in operating expenses and weak liquidity position represent other headwinds.

Bearish Industry Rank: The industry to which ATSG belongs currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 218 (250 plus groups). Such an unfavorable rank places ATSG in the bottom 13% of Zacks Industries. Studies show that 50% of a stock price movement is directly related to the performance of the industry group it belongs to.

A mediocre stock within a strong group is likely to outclass a robust stock in a weak industry. Therefore, reckoning the industry’s performance becomes imperative.

Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the broader Transportation sector may consider better-ranked stocks like GATX Corporation (GATX - Free Report) and SkyWest (SKYW - Free Report) . Each stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

GATX has an encouraging track record with respect to earnings surprise, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters and missing the mark in the remaining one. The average beat is 16.47%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has been revised 9% upward over the past 90 days. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 6.5% for 2024. Shares of GATX have rallied 24.2% in the past year.

SkyWest's fleet modernization efforts are commendable. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SKYW’s 2024 earnings has improved 26% over the past 90 days. Shares of SkyWest have surged 261% in the past year.

SKYW has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for 2024. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 128.02%, on average.

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