Weakness Seen in KEYW Holding (KEYW) Estimates: Should You Stay Away? - Tale of the Tape

Similar to wise buying decisions, exiting certain underperformers at the right time helps maximize portfolio returns. Selling off losers can be difficult, but if both the share price and estimates are falling, it could be time to get rid of the security before more losses hit your portfolio.

One such stock that you may want to consider dropping is The KEYW Holding Corporation KEYW, which has witnessed a significant price decline in the past four weeks, and it has seen negative earnings estimate revisions for the current quarter and the current year. A Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) further confirms weakness in KEYW.

A key reason for this move has been the negative trend in earnings estimate revisions. For the full year, we have seen 4 estimates moving down in the past 30 days, compared with no upward revision. This trend has caused the consensus estimate to trend lower, going from 9 cents a share a month ago to its current level of 1 cent.

Also, for the current quarter, KEYW Holding has seen 4 downward estimate revisions versus no revision in the opposite direction, dragging the consensus estimate from a break even to a loss estimate of 3 cents a share over the past 30 days.

The stock also has seen some pretty dismal trading lately, as the share price has dropped 27.2% in the past month.

So it may not be a good decision to keep this stock in your portfolio anymore, at least if you don't have a long time horizon to wait.

If you are still interested in the computer services sector, you may instead consider some better-ranked stocks including Carbonite, Inc. CARB, Ebix Inc. EBIX and Innodata Inc. INOD. All these stocks hold a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and may be better selections at this time.

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