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Alaska Air Group (ALK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here's Why

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Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $48.50, moving -2.57% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.34%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.09%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.42%.

The airline's shares have seen a decrease of 20.47% over the last month, not keeping up with the Transportation sector's loss of 0.18% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.54%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Alaska Air Group in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.32, showcasing a 41.33% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.73 billion, up 21.56% from the year-ago period.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $3.39 per share and revenue of $14.25 billion, indicating changes of -30.39% and +21.41%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Alaska Air Group. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, 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 0.27% higher. Alaska Air Group currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Alaska Air Group's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 14.67. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 10.11.

It is also worth noting that ALK currently has a PEG ratio of 0.54. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. ALK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.81 as of yesterday's close.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 81, finds itself in the top 33% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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