Novartis (NVS) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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The most recent trading session ended with Novartis (NVS) standing at $102.10, reflecting a +0.13% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.02%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 1.04%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 1.65%.

The the stock of drugmaker has fallen by 1.45% in the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 4.07% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.64%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Novartis in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Novartis to post earnings of $1.71 per share. This would mark no growth from the year-ago period. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $11.43 billion, reflecting a 11.75% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.18 per share and revenue of $47.44 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.06% and -4.69%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Novartis. 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.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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 1.64% lower. Novartis is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Novartis is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.21. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.54.

We can also see that NVS currently has a PEG ratio of 1.58. 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. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.74 at yesterday's closing price.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 168, this industry ranks in the bottom 34% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within 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.

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