Astrazeneca (AZN) Stock Moves -0.83%: What You Should Know
Astrazeneca (AZN) closed at $66.64 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.83% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.61%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.82%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 2.23%.
The pharmaceutical's shares have seen a decrease of 1.75% over the last month, not keeping up with the Medical sector's gain of 1.5% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.28%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on February 8, 2024. On that day, Astrazeneca is projected to report earnings of $0.76 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 10.14%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $12.11 billion, reflecting an 8.04% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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. Over the past month, there's been a 0.32% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Astrazeneca is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note Astrazeneca's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 16.15. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 14.7.
It is also worth noting that AZN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.19. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.75 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 164, putting it in the bottom 35% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming 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 use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming 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
