Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Beats Stock Market Upswing: What Investors Need to Know

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The most recent trading session ended with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) standing at $411.38, reflecting a +0.91% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.63%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.82%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugmaker had lost 3.44% over the past month. This has lagged 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 Vertex Pharmaceuticals in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $4.07, showcasing a 33.44% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.55 billion, up 7.34% from the year-ago period.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $16.79 per share and a revenue of $10.69 billion, indicating changes of +10.24% and +8.27%, respectively, from the former year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.19% decrease. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 24.28. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 24.2.

Also, we should mention that VRTX has a PEG ratio of 1.98. 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. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.58.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 71, this industry ranks in the top 29% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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