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

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In the latest trading session, AT&T (T - Free Report) closed at $31.80, marking a +0.92% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.34%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.69%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from T as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect T to post earnings of $0.82 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 7.87%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $42.21 billion, down 6.12% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.29 per share and revenue of $173.78 billion. These totals would mark changes of -7.84% and -4.09%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for T. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for 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.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. T is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

Investors should also note T's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.57. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 21.49, which means T is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, T's PEG ratio is currently 1.73. 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. T's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.89 as of yesterday's close.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 89, putting it in the top 36% 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.

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


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