Astrazeneca (AZN) Advances But Underperforms Market: Key Facts
Astrazeneca (AZN) closed at $64.60 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.69% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.8%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.23%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.14%.
Shares of the pharmaceutical witnessed a loss of 4.02% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Medical sector with its gain of 3.58% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.2%.
The upcoming earnings release of Astrazeneca will be of great interest to investors. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.88, down 8.33% from the prior-year quarter. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $12.06 billion, indicating a 10.87% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $4.06 per share and a revenue of $50.93 billion, indicating changes of +11.85% and +11.17%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. 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 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 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 moved 2.52% lower. Astrazeneca is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Astrazeneca has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.82 right now. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 14.9 of its industry.
Meanwhile, AZN's PEG ratio is currently 1.18. 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 1.67 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 177, which puts it in the bottom 30% 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.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
