AT&T (T) closed at $31.66 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.57% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.82%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.82%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.64%.
Coming into today, shares of the telecommunications company had gained 3.11% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 8.68%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.58%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from T as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.90, down 1.1% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $45.09 billion, up 15.66% from the prior-year quarter.
T's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.59 per share and revenue of $183.54 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.99% and +7.49%, respectively.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for T. 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.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.07% lower. T is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note T's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 8.78. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.75.
Investors should also note that T has a PEG ratio of 1.96 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Wireless National stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.71 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 45, putting it in the top 18% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T
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