Alphabet (GOOGL) Laps the Stock Market: Here's Why

In the latest close session, Alphabet (GOOGL) was up +1.59% at $178.63. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.48%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.02%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.94%.

Shares of the internet search leader have appreciated by 5.81% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 7.61%, and outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 5.13%.

The upcoming earnings release of Alphabet will be of great interest to investors. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $2.12, indicating a 12.17% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $78.95 billion, up 10.65% from the year-ago period.

GOOGL's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $9.53 per share and revenue of $326.75 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +18.53% and +10.72%, respectively.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Alphabet. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.02% higher. Currently, Alphabet is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Alphabet has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.45 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 19.59, which means Alphabet is trading at a discount to the group.

Also, we should mention that GOOGL has a PEG ratio of 1.24. 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. The Internet - Services industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.5 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 163, which puts it in the bottom 35% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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