Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Clearfield (CLFD) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

In the latest trading session, Clearfield (CLFD - Free Report) closed at $97.79, marking a +0.04% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.49%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.6%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.06%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of fiber optic management products had lost 22.22% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 5.29% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.49% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Clearfield as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Clearfield to post earnings of $1.02 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 36%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $85 million, up 66.31% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.95 per share and revenue of $386.5 million, which would represent changes of +39.44% and +42.68%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Clearfield. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Clearfield is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Clearfield is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.75. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.46, so we one might conclude that Clearfield is trading at a premium comparatively.

The Wireless Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 203, putting it in the bottom 20% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Clearfield, Inc. (CLFD) - free report >>

Published in