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APA (APA) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, APA (APA - Free Report) closed at $35.90, marking a +1.47% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.16% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.12%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.64%.

Heading into today, shares of the oil and natural gas producer had lost 9.81% over the past month, lagging the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 6.61% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.07% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from APA as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.08, down 43.75% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2 billion, down 25.1% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.35 per share and revenue of $8.99 billion. These totals would mark changes of -17.32% and -18.02%, respectively, from last year.

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

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 8.37% lower within the past month. APA is holding a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now.

Investors should also note APA's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 5.57. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 5.62.

Investors should also note that APA has a PEG ratio of 0.22 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.3 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 219, putting it in the bottom 14% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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