Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) closed the most recent trading day at $408.18, moving +0.72% from the previous trading session. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1.1%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.91%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.35%.

The the stock of drugmaker has fallen by 12.22% in the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 3.78% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.22%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is projected to report earnings of $4.07 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 3.1%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.77 billion, up 10.07% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $0.49 per share and a revenue of $10.88 billion, demonstrating changes of -96.78% and +10.25%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.02% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 822.88. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 24.53, which means Vertex Pharmaceuticals is trading at a premium to the group.

Also, we should mention that VRTX has a PEG ratio of 67.45. 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. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.68 at yesterday's closing price.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 62, this industry ranks in the top 25% of all industries, numbering over 250.