Bull of the Day: SkyWest (SKYW)
Top stocks are often found in top industries. An easy way to find these winners is by leaning on not only the Zacks Rank, but the Zack Industry Rank. Zacks divides the market into 255 industries, then ranks them among each other in terms of the strongest earnings trends. Industries seeing lots of positive activity in earnings estimates will be near the top of the pack. Then, you can dig into each industry to find the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks which are leading the way.
One such strong stock in a strong industry is today’s Bull of the Day, SkyWest (SKYW). SkyWest is in the Airlines industry which ranks in the Top 4% of our Zacks Industry Rank. SkyWest, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates a regional airline in the United States. As of December 31, 2017, it provided scheduled passenger and air freight services with approximately 2,980 total daily departures to various destinations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean; and had a fleet of 595 aircraft available for scheduled service. The company operates its flights as Delta Connection, United Express, American Eagle, or Alaska under code-share arrangements.
Analysts have been increasing their earnings estimates for SkyWest recently. Over the last sixty days, four analysts have increased their estimates for the current year while two analysts have pushed up next year’s number. The bullish sentiment has increased our Zacks Consensus Estimate from $5.49 to $5.78 for the current year. Next year’s number has shot up from $5.73 to $6.11.
The company is coming off yet another earnings beat with EPS coming in at $1.28, well above expectations calling for $1.09. The last time the company failed to meet earnings expectations was back in August 2014. What helped fuel their rise higher this year was a series of upgrades to their fleet. Over the last year, the company added 44 planes, creating a more efficient fleet while retiring some older planes.
This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is coming off a very strong quarter where it beat expectations. Currently, it’s hovering right at the 200-day moving average. A breakout above this level would put new 52-week highs on the radar.
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