In the latest market close, SM Energy (SM) reached $37.85, with a -1.1% movement compared to the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.39%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.71%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.2%.

Shares of the independent oil and gas company have depreciated by 10.33% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 1.79% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.7%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of SM Energy in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on February 19, 2025. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.93, showcasing a 23.72% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $868.32 million, indicating a 42.64% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for SM Energy. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 12.09% increase. SM Energy is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Digging into valuation, SM Energy currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 4.73. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 9.08.

The Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 45, which puts it in the top 18% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained 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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