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Alaska Air Group (ALK) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

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The most recent trading session ended with Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) standing at $45, reflecting a +1.24% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.13% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.33%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.39%.

Coming into today, shares of the airline had gained 24.16% in the past month. In that same time, the Transportation sector gained 3.1%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.43%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Alaska Air Group in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Alaska Air Group to post earnings of $2.05 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 12.02%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.96 billion, up 4.35% from the year-ago period.

ALK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.70 per share and revenue of $10.75 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +3.75% and +3.15%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Alaska Air Group should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical 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, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 15.2% upward. Alaska Air Group is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Digging into valuation, Alaska Air Group currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.45. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.84.

Meanwhile, ALK's PEG ratio is currently 0.56. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. ALK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.89 as of yesterday's close.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 91, this industry ranks in the top 36% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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