The most recent trading session ended with General Dynamics (GD) standing at $264.55, reflecting a +0.6% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.78%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.99%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 2.61%.

The defense contractor's stock has climbed by 1.69% in the past month, exceeding the Aerospace sector's loss of 1.93% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.48%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of General Dynamics in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $3.43, reflecting a 19.1% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $11.75 billion, up 9.54% from the prior-year quarter.

GD's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $14.94 per share and revenue of $50.36 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +9.61% and +5.54%, respectively.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for General Dynamics. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.08% higher. At present, General Dynamics boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

From a valuation perspective, General Dynamics is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.6. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 18.34.

It is also worth noting that GD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.8. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Aerospace - Defense industry stood at 1.82 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 85, putting it in the top 34% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in 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 use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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General Dynamics Corporation (GD) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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