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Astrazeneca (AZN) ended the recent trading session at $76.21, demonstrating a +0.74% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.59%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.39%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.63%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical had gained 6.19% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 0.63% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.42% in that time.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Astrazeneca in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.09, reflecting a 5.83% increase from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $13.58 billion, reflecting a 7.07% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
AZN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.52 per share and revenue of $56.98 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +9.98% and +5.37%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 witnessed a 3.11% decrease. Astrazeneca is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Looking at valuation, Astrazeneca is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.75. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 21.57.
It's also important to note that AZN currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.45. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry stood at 1.49 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 72, putting it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.