In the latest market close, General Dynamics (GD) reached $269.08, with a -0.15% movement compared to the previous day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.97%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.69%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.7%.

Heading into today, shares of the defense contractor had gained 7.1% over the past month, outpacing the Aerospace sector's gain of 2.92% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.79% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of General Dynamics in its upcoming release. On that day, General Dynamics is projected to report earnings of $3.43 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 19.1%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $11.75 billion, indicating a 9.54% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $14.94 per share and a revenue of $50.36 billion, signifying shifts of +9.61% and +5.54%, respectively, from the last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for General Dynamics. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. General Dynamics presently features a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that General Dynamics has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.04 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.78.

We can additionally observe that GD currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.84. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Aerospace - Defense industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.84.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 169, which puts it in the bottom 33% 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.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

General Dynamics Corporation (GD) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

Zacks Investment Research