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Alaska Air Group (ALK) Stock Falls Amid Market Uptick: What Investors Need to Know

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Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) closed at $41.34 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.72% move from the prior day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.13%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.55%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.52%.

Heading into today, shares of the airline had gained 19.72% over the past month, outpacing the Transportation sector's gain of 4.41% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.67% in that time.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Alaska Air Group in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, Alaska Air Group is projected to report earnings of $1.64 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 10.38%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.94 billion, up 3.6% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.20 per share and revenue of $10.73 billion. These totals would mark changes of -7.28% and +2.92%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Alaska Air Group should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 3.13% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, Alaska Air Group boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Alaska Air Group is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.91. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 9.93 of its industry.

It's also important to note that ALK currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.63. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Transportation - Airline industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.04.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 211, positioning it in the bottom 17% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. 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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