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General Dynamics (GD) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, General Dynamics (GD - Free Report) closed at $248.60, marking a +0.2% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.03%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 4.72%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the defense contractor had lost 1.12% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Aerospace sector's loss of 1.62% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.57% in that time.

General Dynamics will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.55, up 4.72% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $10.73 billion, up 4.25% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for General Dynamics. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

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 remained stagnant within the past month. General Dynamics is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note General Dynamics's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 20.41. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.14.

Also, we should mention that GD has a PEG ratio of 2.2. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Aerospace - Defense stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.29 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 183, putting it in the bottom 28% 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.

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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