Air Products and Chemicals (APD) closed the most recent trading day at $241.29, moving +1.25% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.37%. At the same time, the Dow added 2.47%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.07%.

Coming into today, shares of the seller of gases for industrial, medical and other uses had lost 0.08% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 3.01%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.82%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Air Products and Chemicals as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be November 3, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.77, up 10.36% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.28 billion, up 15.44% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Air Products and Chemicals. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.14% lower. Air Products and Chemicals is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note Air Products and Chemicals's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 20.8. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.82, which means Air Products and Chemicals is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that APD has a PEG ratio of 1.46 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Chemical - Diversified industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.31 as of yesterday's close.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 237, putting it in the bottom 6% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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