Yahoo Finance Astrazeneca (AZN) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here's Why
Astrazeneca (AZN) closed at $79.31 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.35% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.77%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.49%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.95%.
The pharmaceutical's shares have seen an increase of 3.5% over the last month, surpassing the Medical sector's gain of 1.49% and falling behind the S&P 500's gain of 3.71%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.98, reflecting a 9.26% decrease from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $12.49 billion, indicating a 9.4% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $4.04 per share and a revenue of $51.78 billion, indicating changes of +11.29% and +13.03%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.25% higher within the past month. Astrazeneca is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
With respect to valuation, Astrazeneca is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.72. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 14.54.
One should further note that AZN currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.43. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry stood at 1.78 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 149, placing it within the bottom 41% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
