AeroVironment (AVAV) ended the most recent trading session at $189.80, marking a slight decline of -0.34% from the previous day’s closing price. This move lagged behind the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.97%. The Dow also experienced a positive day, rising by 0.58%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.39%.
Despite the slight dip, AeroVironment has seen strong performance in the past month, with its share price gaining 15.96%. This outpaces the Aerospace sector’s gain of 5.45% and the S&P 500’s loss of 1.85% during the same period.
Investors will be closely watching AeroVironment’s upcoming earnings release. The company is expected to report an EPS of $0.61, indicating a 39% fall compared to the same quarter last year. However, the consensus estimate forecasts revenue to reach $184.26 million, representing a 20.94% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. For the full year, analysts anticipate earnings of $3.41 per share and revenue of $813.75 million, signifying increases of +14.05% and +13.54%, respectively, from the previous year.
It’s crucial to monitor any revisions to analyst forecasts for AeroVironment as these changes reflect evolving near-term business trends. Upward revisions often indicate analysts’ confidence in the company’s ability to generate profits, and research suggests these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices.
To aid in this analysis, we use the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that considers these estimate changes and provides an operational rating system. The Zacks Rank, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a proven history of outperforming, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate for AeroVironment has remained stagnant. Currently, AeroVironment holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, AeroVironment is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 55.9. This signifies a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 29.3 for its industry. The Aerospace – Defense Equipment industry, part of the Aerospace sector, has a Zacks Industry Rank of 93. This places it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries. The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of individual industry groups by analyzing the average Zacks Rank of the stocks within them. Research shows that the top 50% rated industries consistently outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
