Plug Power (PLUG) closed at $32.30 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.98% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.77%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the alternative energy company had lost 25.38% over the past month. This has lagged the Industrial Products sector's gain of 3.57% and the S&P 500's gain of 7.34% in that time.

PLUG will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect PLUG to post earnings of -$0.08 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 33.33%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $79.17 million, up 93.98% from the prior-year quarter.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for PLUG. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 3.07% higher. PLUG currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

The Manufacturing - Electronics industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 100, which puts it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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