Astrazeneca (AZN) closed at $54.49 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.5% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 1.8% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 1.68%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 2.33%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical had gained 0.11% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector’s loss of 2.81% and the S&P 500’s loss of 6.31% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AZN as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.53, up 6% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.66 billion, up 3.92% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.03 per share and revenue of $26.26 billion, which would represent changes of +16% and +7.69%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for AZN should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% lower within the past month. AZN currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note AZN’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 26.74. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 14.3, which means AZN is trading at a premium to the group.
Investors should also note that AZN has a PEG ratio of 1.59 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.98 at yesterday’s closing price.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 194, which puts it in the bottom 24% 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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