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AT&T (T) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, AT&T (T - Free Report) closed at $30.71, marking a +0.79% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.44% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the telecommunications company had gained 2.87% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 5.25% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.26% in that time.

T will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 22, 2021. In that report, analysts expect T to post earnings of $0.77 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 8.33%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $42.69 billion, down 0.21% from the year-ago period.

T's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.15 per share and revenue of $172.44 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -0.94% and +0.4%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.27% higher within the past month. T is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, T currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.66. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 28.83, so we one might conclude that T is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that T currently has a PEG ratio of 3.93. 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. The Wireless National industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.5 as of yesterday's close.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 190, which puts it in the bottom 26% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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