Astrazeneca (AZN) declines more than market: Some information for investors

Astrazeneca (AZN) closed the most recent trading day at $73.53, moving -2.43% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.5%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.38%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.5%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical had lost 5.72% lagged the Medical sector's loss of 0.7% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.74%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.13, marking a 8.65% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $14.86 billion, indicating a 9.57% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $4.58 per share and a revenue of $58.6 billion, demonstrating changes of +11.44% and +8.37%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.55% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Astrazeneca is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, Astrazeneca is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.45. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 19.43 of its industry.

We can also see that AZN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.39. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.72.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 88, which puts it in the top 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

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