In the latest trading session, AeroVironment (AVAV) closed at $194.89, marking a -1.11% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.4%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.28%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.04%.

The maker of unmanned aircrafts's shares have seen a decrease of 10.63% over the last month, not keeping up with the Aerospace sector's loss of 4.35% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.62%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of AeroVironment in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on December 4, 2024. On that day, AeroVironment is projected to report earnings of $0.66 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 31.96%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $178.96 million, showing a 1.03% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.36 per share and a revenue of $802.14 million, representing changes of +12.37% and +11.92%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for AeroVironment should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. As of now, AeroVironment holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note AeroVironment's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 58.71. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 31.16.

The Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry is part of the Aerospace sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 80, positioning it in the top 32% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.