General Dynamics (GD) Stock Moves -0.98%: What You Should Know

General Dynamics (GD) closed at $228.46 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.98% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 1.13% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.56%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.16%.

Heading into today, shares of the defense contractor had lost 4.93% over the past month, outpacing the Aerospace sector's loss of 6.17% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.59% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from General Dynamics as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, General Dynamics is projected to report earnings of $3.17 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 3.26%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $9.95 billion, up 3.98% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $12.16 per share and revenue of $39.48 billion, which would represent changes of +5.28% and +2.63%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for General Dynamics should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. General Dynamics is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, General Dynamics is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 18.97. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.58.

It is also worth noting that GD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.86. 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. The Aerospace - Defense was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.86 at yesterday's closing price.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 83, putting it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

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

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.