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Activision Blizzard (ATVI) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Activision Blizzard closed at $46.73 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.15% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.12% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.04%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.32%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of "Call of Duty" and other video games had gained 6.21% over the past month. This has outpaced the Consumer Discretionary sector's gain of 1.86% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.31% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from ATVI as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, ATVI is projected to report earnings of $0.27 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 34.15%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.20 billion, down 13.72% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.20 per share and revenue of $6.44 billion, which would represent changes of -15.38% and -11.33%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for ATVI 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. 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 0.54% higher within the past month. ATVI currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note ATVI's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 20.99. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 21.1, which means ATVI is trading at a discount to the group.

It is also worth noting that ATVI currently has a PEG ratio of 2.08. 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. The Toys - Games - Hobbies industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.08 as of yesterday's close.

The Toys - Games - Hobbies industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, which puts it in the top 30% 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.

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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