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Why General Dynamics (GD) Outpaced the Stock Market Today

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General Dynamics (GD - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $279.93, demonstrating a +1.49% change from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.38%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.24%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.24%.

The defense contractor's shares have seen an increase of 1.9% over the last month, not keeping up with the Aerospace sector's gain of 8.73% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.6%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of General Dynamics in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $3.47, showcasing a 6.44% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $12.05 billion, indicating a 0.59% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

GD's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $14.92 per share and revenue of $50.47 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +9.46% and +5.76%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for General Dynamics. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.04% lower. General Dynamics is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, General Dynamics is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.49. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 23.55.

Meanwhile, GD's PEG ratio is currently 1.86. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Aerospace - Defense industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.96 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 71, this industry ranks in the top 29% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within 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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