Keysight (KEYS) closed at $78.32 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.4% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.29%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.49%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.46%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the electronic measurement technology company had gained 15.9% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 6.08% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.57% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from KEYS as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 21, 2019. In that report, analysts expect KEYS to post earnings of $0.79 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 54.9%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue 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.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for KEYS. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. KEYS is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, KEYS is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.71. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.98, 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 industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 110, which puts it in the top 44% 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.
Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS): Free Stock Analysis Report
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