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Bull of the Day: Avis Budget Group (CAR)

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Landing the Bull of the Day is Avis Budget Group (CAR - Free Report) ) which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an overall “A” VGM grade for the combination of Value, Growth, and Momentum.

Avis’s Business-Services Industry is also in the top 6% of over 250 Zacks industries and the company is positioned to benefit from higher travel demand as a leading vehicle rental operator with global locations in North America, Europe, and Australia.  

Last year was a record year for Avis in revenue, net income, and adjusted EBITDA with its 2023 outlook looking attractive as well after crushing its Q4 top and bottom line expectations last month. Avis has beaten earnings expectations for 10 consecutive quarters and topped sales estimates in its last eight quarterly reports.

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Earnings Estimate Revisions

Although 2022 will be a very tough year to follow with EPS at $58.05, earnings estimate revisions have continued to trend higher for Avis following its stellar Q4 results.

Fiscal 2023 earnings estimates have now gone up 14% over the last 90 days at $28.24 per share and FY24 EPS estimates have soared 32% to $24.31.

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Good Value

With earnings estimates on the rise, Avis’s price-to-earnings valuation is very attractive at just 6.3X forward earnings. This is nicely beneath its industry average of 15.7X and the S&P 500’s 18.3X.

Even better, Avis stock trades well below its extreme decade-long high of 1,034X and at a 45% discount to the median of 11.5X.

Avis’s EV/EBITDA valuation stands out as well at 3.5X and alludes to the company being undervalued but in strong financial health. To that point, Avis’s EV/EBITDA is far below the industry average of 8.6X with the benchmark at 12.1X as a loose comparison.

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Bottom Line

What is most impressive about Avis stock is that shares of CAR have soared over 1,200% in the last three years as the comapny's growth continued to surprise many. Avis stock is up +8% year-to-date, trading at $177 per share and still 46% off its 52-week highs.

With rising earnings estimate revisions, industry dominance, and strong enterprise value, it would not be surprising if Avis stock starts soaring in 2023.


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