Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) closed the most recent trading day at $59.99, moving -1.56% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 1.89% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.17%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the semiconductor services company had lost 10.49% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 6.14% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.79% in that time.

Axcelis Technologies will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.84, up 162.5% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $190.15 million, up 55.61% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Axcelis Technologies. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Axcelis Technologies is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

In terms of valuation, Axcelis Technologies is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.18. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.27.

The Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, putting it in the top 26% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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