In the latest trading session, Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) closed at $112.97, marking a +1.3% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.81%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.56%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.27%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the drugmaker had gained 7.33% over the past month. This has outpaced the Medical sector’s loss of 1.62% and the S&P 500’s gain of 5.06% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from ALXN as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.48, down 11.11% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.39 billion, up 10.18% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.02 per share and revenue of $5.70 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.65% and +14.17%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ALXN. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, 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 0.43% higher. ALXN is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, ALXN is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.12. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.63, so we one might conclude that ALXN is trading at a discount comparatively.
Also, we should mention that ALXN has a PEG ratio of 0.75. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. Medical – Biomedical and Genetics stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.74 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Medical – Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 184, which puts it in the bottom 28% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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