Astrazeneca (AZN) rises higher than market: Key facts

Astrazeneca (AZN - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $85.31, demonstrating a +1.98% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.01% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.51%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.28%.

Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical had gained 2.29% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 4.67% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.83%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.14, signifying a 9.62% increase 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.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $4.58 per share and a revenue of $58.6 billion, indicating changes of +11.44% and +8.37%, respectively, from the former year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Astrazeneca is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

From a valuation perspective, Astrazeneca is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.26. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 19.42 of its industry.

Also, we should mention that AZN has a PEG ratio of 1.54. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.82 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 74, putting it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions. 

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