Alaska Air Group (ALK) closed the latest trading day at $50.11, indicating a +0.68% change from the previous session's end. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.04%.

Coming into today, shares of the airline had gained 7.94% in the past month. In that same time, the Transportation sector gained 10.21%, while the S&P 500 gained 13.42%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Alaska Air Group in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.57, signifying a 38.43% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.66 billion, up 26.26% from the year-ago period.

ALK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.65 per share and revenue of $14.21 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -25.05% and +21.09%, respectively.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Alaska Air Group. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending 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, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 29.65% lower. Alaska Air Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

In terms of valuation, Alaska Air Group is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.63. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 8.92 of its industry.

One should further note that ALK currently holds a PEG ratio of 0.51. 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. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Transportation - Airline industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.94.

Story Continues

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 89, putting it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these 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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Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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