AT&T (T) closed the most recent trading day at $29.86, moving -1.19% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 2.08%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 2.11%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.27%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the telecommunications company had gained 0.33% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 1.55% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.6% in that time.
T will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 30, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.85, up 8.97% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $48.44 billion, up 16.24% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.52 per share and revenue of $174.05 billion, which would represent changes of +15.41% and +8.41%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors. 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.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 0.12% higher. T is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that T has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.59 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 33.22, so we one might conclude that T is trading at a discount comparatively.
We can also see that T currently has a PEG ratio of 1.36. 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 4.78 as of yesterday's close.
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 59, which puts it in the top 23% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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AT&T Inc. (T): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
