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AU Optronics (AUO) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, AU Optronics closed at $4.14, marking a +0.73% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.22% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.49%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.15%.

Coming into today, shares of the LCD screen manufacturer had gained 11.38% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 2.32%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.57%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from AUO as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 6, 2019.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AUO. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 5.26% higher. AUO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Investors should also note AUO's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 10.27. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 14.13, so we one might conclude that AUO is trading at a discount comparatively.

The Electronics - Miscellaneous Components industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 100, putting it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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 follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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