Back to top

Image: Bigstock

AT&T (T) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

AT&T (T - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $32.36, moving +0.34% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.59%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.35%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.88%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the telecommunications company had lost 4.25% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 5.44% and lagged the S&P 500's loss of 4.1% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from T as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be October 24, 2018. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.93, up 25.68% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $45.72 billion, up 15.25% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.51 per share and revenue of $175.06 billion, which would represent changes of +15.08% and +9.04%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.42% lower. T currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note T's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.2. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 38.48, which means T is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, T's PEG ratio is currently 2.58. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Wireless National stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.27 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, putting it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


AT&T Inc. (T) - free report >>

Published in