In the latest trading session, Keysight (KEYS) closed at $77.05, marking a +1.86% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.22%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.08%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.36%.
Coming into today, shares of the electronic measurement technology company had gained 15.22% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 10.66%, while the S&P 500 gained 8.17%.
KEYS will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 21, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.79, up 54.9% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $978.22 million, up 16.87% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.77 per share and revenue of $4.20 billion. These totals would mark changes of +16.36% and +8.18%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for KEYS should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. KEYS is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that KEYS has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.08 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 12.11, so we one might conclude that KEYS is trading at a premium comparatively.
The Electronics - Measuring Instruments industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 57, putting 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS): Free Stock Analysis Report
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