August 27, 2021 3 min read

This story originally appeared on Zacks

Align Technology (ALGN) closed at $701.85 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.76% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 0.88% gain on the day.

Prior to today’s trading, shares of the maker of the Invisalign tooth-straightening system had gained 2.89% over the past month. This has outpaced the Medical sector’s gain of 2.78% and the S&P 500’s gain of 1.2% in that time.

ALGN will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect ALGN to post earnings of $2.54 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 12.89%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $962.29 million, up 31.08% from the prior-year quarter.

ALGN’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $10.99 per share and revenue of $3.92 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +109.33% and +58.44%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for ALGN. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 4.57% higher. ALGN currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that ALGN has a Forward P/E ratio of 63.39 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 20.95.

Meanwhile, ALGN’s PEG ratio is currently 2.39. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. Medical – Dental Supplies stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.48 based on yesterday’s closing prices.

The Medical – Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 108, which puts it in the top 43% 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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