Plug Power (PLUG) closed at $4.19 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.24% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.84% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.92%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.06%.

Heading into today, shares of the alternative energy company had gained 44.83% over the past month, outpacing the Industrial Products sector's gain of 1.41% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.95% in that time.

PLUG will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.05, up 37.5% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $92.77 million, up 55.08% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for PLUG. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 3.96% higher within the past month. PLUG currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

The Manufacturing - Electronics industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 164, putting it in the bottom 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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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