American Airlines (AAL) Rises But Trails Market: What Investors Should Know

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American Airlines (AAL) ended the recent trading session at $11.79, demonstrating a +0.26% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.61% for the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.97%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.33%.

The world's largest airline's stock has climbed by 8.09% in the past month, exceeding the Transportation sector's gain of 3.02% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.36%.

The upcoming earnings release of American Airlines will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on October 24, 2024. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.13, reflecting a 65.79% decrease from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $13.49 billion, up 0.06% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.22 per share and revenue of $53.57 billion. These totals would mark changes of -53.96% and +1.49%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for American Airlines. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 15.06% higher. Currently, American Airlines is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that American Airlines has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.62 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.1.

It's also important to note that AAL currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.26. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Transportation - Airline industry was having an average PEG ratio of 0.82.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 26, which puts it in the top 11% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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