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Agilent Technologies (A) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Agilent Technologies (A - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $138.48, moving -0.01% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.09%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.2%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 4.87%.

Heading into today, shares of the scientific instrument maker had gained 4.96% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.98% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.31% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Agilent Technologies as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.27, up 12.39% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.67 billion, up 3.77% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.68 per share and revenue of $7.07 billion, which would represent changes of +8.81% and +3.3%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Agilent Technologies. 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.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Agilent Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note Agilent Technologies's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 24.4. This represents a no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 24.4.

Also, we should mention that A has a PEG ratio of 2.03. 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. Electronics - Testing Equipment stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.58 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 82, which puts it in the top 33% 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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