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United States Steel (X) Ascends But Remains Behind Market: Some Facts to Note

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In the latest market close, United States Steel (X - Free Report) reached $47.57, with a +0.78% movement compared to the previous day. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.03%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.34%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.51%.

Shares of the steel maker have appreciated by 2.45% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Basic Materials sector's gain of 3.78% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.21%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of United States Steel in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.93, indicating a 20.78% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $4.24 billion, indicating a 5.08% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $3.76 per share and a revenue of $16.34 billion, demonstrating changes of -20.51% and -9.47%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for United States Steel. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 26.9% higher. Right now, United States Steel possesses a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that United States Steel has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.54 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 10.74, so one might conclude that United States Steel is trading at a premium comparatively.

The Steel - Producers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 173, this industry ranks in the bottom 32% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. 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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