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Astrazeneca (AZN) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Astrazeneca (AZN - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $54.44, moving +0.8% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.15%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.07%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.07%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AZN as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be February 11, 2021. In that report, analysts expect AZN to post earnings of $0.53 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 17.78%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.96 billion, up 4.38% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for AZN. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.58% lower within the past month. AZN is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, AZN currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.54. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.12.

Also, we should mention that AZN has a PEG ratio of 1.23. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.09 at yesterday's closing price.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 198, which puts it in the bottom 23% 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.

To follow AZN in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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