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The latest trading session saw Abbott (ABT) ending at $124.50, denoting a -2% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 3.46%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 2.5%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 4.31%.
Shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs witnessed a loss of 2.49% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Medical sector with its loss of 10.85% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.27%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Abbott in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on April 16, 2025. On that day, Abbott is projected to report earnings of $1.07 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 9.18%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $10.42 billion, indicating a 4.54% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.15 per share and revenue of $44.42 billion. These totals would mark changes of +10.28% and +5.9%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Abbott. 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.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.04% higher. Abbott currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Investors should also note Abbott's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 24.08. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 14.83, so one might conclude that Abbott is trading at a premium comparatively.
We can also see that ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.31. 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. ABT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.94 as of yesterday's close.