In the latest close session, AeroVironment (AVAV) was up +1.82% at $171.12. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.18%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.85%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.06%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of unmanned aircrafts had gained 6.52% in the past month. In that same time, the Aerospace sector gained 1.18%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.33%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of AeroVironment in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.34, marking a 6.25% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $474.57 million, indicating a 4.38% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $3.26 per share and revenue of $2.17 billion, indicating changes of -1.51% and +34.77%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for AeroVironment. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 3.92% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. AeroVironment is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

In terms of valuation, AeroVironment is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 51.55. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 36.18 for its industry.

One should further note that AVAV currently holds a PEG ratio of 5.72. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.51.

The Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 87, finds itself in the top 36% echelons of all 250+ industries.

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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV): Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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