HP (HPQ) Beats Stock Market Upswing: What Investors Need to Know

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HP (HPQ) closed at $37.44 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.16% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.77% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.47%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.87%.

The personal computer and printer maker's stock has climbed by 11.07% in the past month, exceeding the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 6.36% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.87%.

The upcoming earnings release of HP will be of great interest to investors. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.93, up 3.33% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $13.96 billion, up 1% from the year-ago period.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.39 per share and a revenue of $53.46 billion, representing changes of +3.35% and -0.55%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for HP. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent 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.

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. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Right now, HP possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Investors should also note HP's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 10.93. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 15.36.

Meanwhile, HPQ's PEG ratio is currently 2.7. 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. Computer - Micro Computers stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.79 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Computer - Micro Computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 186, this industry ranks in the bottom 27% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

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

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