Goldman Sachs (GS) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Goldman Sachs (GS) closed at $175.84, marking a -0.49% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.02% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.29%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.39%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the investment bank had lost 12.74% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's loss of 4.48% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.56% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from GS as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 16, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $6.12, up 7.75% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $8.26 billion, up 5.46% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $25.33 per share and revenue of $36.34 billion. These totals would mark changes of +28.19% and +13.32%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for GS should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

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.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% higher within the past month. GS currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that GS has a Forward P/E ratio of 6.98 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.7.

Also, we should mention that GS has a PEG ratio of 0.58. 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. Financial - Investment Bank stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.77 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 26, putting it in the top 10% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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