Back to top

Image: Bigstock

VMware (VMW) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

In the latest trading session, VMware closed at $197.99, marking a +0.66% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.16%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.26%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.29%.

Coming into today, shares of the cloud computing company had lost 1.73% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 7.21%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.66%.

VMW will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be May 30, 2019. On that day, VMW is projected to report earnings of $1.27 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 0.79%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.24 billion, up 11.75% from the year-ago period.

VMW's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.49 per share and revenue of $10.02 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +2.53% and +11.71%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for VMW should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.43% lower within the past month. VMW is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, VMW currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 30.3. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 30.35, which means VMW is trading at a discount to the group.

Investors should also note that VMW has a PEG ratio of 2.26 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. VMW's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.22 as of yesterday's close.

The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 79, which puts it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

To follow VMW in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

Published in