Alphabet (GOOGL) Ascends But Remains Behind Market: Some Facts to Note

Zacks
01 Mar

The latest trading session saw Alphabet (GOOGL) ending at $170.25, denoting a +1.04% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.59%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.39%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.63%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the internet search leader had lost 16.12% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 3.43% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.42% in that time.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Alphabet in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.02, reflecting a 6.88% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $75.65 billion, indicating a 11.92% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.90 per share and revenue of $330.07 billion. These totals would mark changes of +10.7% and +11.84%, respectively, from last year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Alphabet. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.39% downward. Alphabet is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Alphabet is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.93. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 23.71 for its industry.

One should further note that GOOGL currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.22. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. GOOGL's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.7 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 142, finds itself in the bottom 44% echelons 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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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

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