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HP (HPQ) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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HP (HPQ - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $32.94, moving +0.34% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.59% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.15%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.02%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the personal computer and printer maker had lost 4.26% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 12.83% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 7.25% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from HP as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, HP is projected to report earnings of $1.05 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 5%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $15.8 billion, up 3.34% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.30 per share and revenue of $65.97 billion, which would represent changes of +13.46% and +3.92%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for HP. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.12% lower. HP is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note HP's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 7.63. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 7.63, so we one might conclude that HP is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.

Investors should also note that HPQ has a PEG ratio of 1.91 right now. 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 Computer - Mini computers was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.94 at yesterday's closing price.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 100, putting it in the top 40% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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