In the latest trading session, Macy's (M) closed at $23.59, marking a -2.12% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.7%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.28%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.83%.
Heading into today, shares of the department store operator had gained 6.45% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.31% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.21%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Macy's in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.19, down 311.11% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.7 billion, down 0.36% from the year-ago period.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.32 per share and a revenue of $21.81 billion, representing changes of 0% and +0.21%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Macy's. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
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 0.66% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Macy's presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Macy's is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.38. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 16.04.
The Retail - Regional Department Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 20, placing it within the top 9% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in 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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Macy's, Inc. (M): Free Stock Analysis Report
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