Why Amgen (AMGN) Outpaced the Stock Market Today
Amgen (AMGN) closed at $270.90 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.76% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.63%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.2%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.82%.
Heading into today, shares of the world's largest biotech drugmaker had lost 5.23% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 0.91% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.76% in that time.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Amgen in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $3.84, indicating a 3.52% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $7.45 billion, up 21.98% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $19.48 per share and a revenue of $32.91 billion, demonstrating changes of +4.45% and +16.75%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Amgen. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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 varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.16% decrease. Amgen currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Amgen is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.8. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 24.2.
We can also see that AMGN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.52. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.58 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 71, positioning it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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Amgen Inc. (AMGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
