SQM (SQM) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

SQM (SQM) closed at $75.56 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.45% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 1.65% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.02%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.16%.

Heading into today, shares of the chemicals company had lost 9.79% over the past month, outpacing the Basic Materials sector's loss of 14.31% and the S&P 500's loss of 10.86% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from SQM as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, SQM is projected to report earnings of $1.23 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 373.08%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.28 billion, up 142.89% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.11 per share and revenue of $5.89 billion. These totals would mark changes of +198.05% and +105.84%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for SQM should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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 has moved 5.79% higher within the past month. SQM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Investors should also note SQM's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 12.19. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 5.81.

Also, we should mention that SQM has a PEG ratio of 0.3. 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. SQM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.67 as of yesterday's close.

The Fertilizers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 2, which puts it in the top 1% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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