Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Stock Moves -1.01%: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) closed at $250.96, marking a -1.01% move from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 3.25% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 2.42%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.49%.
Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had gained 0.46% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.96%, while the S&P 500 lost 5.62%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Vertex Pharmaceuticals as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is projected to report earnings of $3.56 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 14.47%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $2.12 billion, up 18.38% from the prior-year quarter.
VRTX's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $14.13 per share and revenue of $8.6 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.53% and +13.54%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.94. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 20.16, which means Vertex Pharmaceuticals is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that VRTX has a PEG ratio of 1.65. 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. Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.07 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 105, which puts it in the top 42% of all 250+ industries.
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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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