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Alaska Air Group (ALK) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

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The most recent trading session ended with Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) standing at $40.98, reflecting a -0.87% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.03%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.04%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.2%.

Heading into today, shares of the airline had gained 18.25% over the past month, outpacing the Transportation sector's gain of 3.7% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.54% 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 $1.72 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 6.01%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $2.95 billion, indicating a 3.87% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

ALK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.20 per share and revenue of $10.73 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -7.28% and +2.92%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Alaska Air Group. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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. Over the past month, there's been a 3.13% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Alaska Air Group currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Alaska Air Group has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.84 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 10.06, so one might conclude that Alaska Air Group is trading at a discount comparatively.

One should further note that ALK currently holds a PEG ratio of 0.59. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Transportation - Airline industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.05.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 186, this industry ranks in the bottom 27% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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