Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Stock Moves -0.52%: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) closed at $264, marking a -0.52% move from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 1.16% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.84%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.13%.

Heading into today, shares of the drugmaker had lost 2.23% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 0.29% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.96% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from VRTX as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, VRTX is projected to report earnings of $2.29 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 86.18%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.45 billion, up 53.01% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.72 per share and revenue of $5.96 billion. These totals would mark changes of +82.36% and +43.17%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for VRTX should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.28% higher. VRTX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, VRTX is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 27.3. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 25.01, which means VRTX is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, VRTX's PEG ratio is currently 1.37. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. VRTX's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.52 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 197, which puts it in the bottom 23% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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