AeroVironment Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know

In the latest trading session, AeroVironment AVAV closed at $177.76, marking a +0.21% move from the previous day. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.16%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.02%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.16%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of unmanned aircrafts had gained 1.28% in the past month. In that same time, the Aerospace sector gained 2.37%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.97%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of AeroVironment in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on September 4, 2024. In that report, analysts expect AeroVironment to post earnings of $0.61 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 39%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $184.26 million, up 20.94% from the prior-year quarter.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $3.41 per share and revenue of $813.75 million, indicating changes of +14.05% and +13.54%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for AeroVironment. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. As of now, AeroVironment holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note AeroVironment's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 52.07. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 30.25 of its industry.

The Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry is part of the Aerospace sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 59, positioning it in the top 24% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

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