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Merck (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
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In the latest trading session, Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $74.63, marking a -0.17% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.04%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.58%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.52%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 0.17% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Medical sector's loss of 5.72% and lagged the S&P 500's loss of 0.15% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MRK as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 29, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.68, up 12% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $12.85 billion, up 6.58% from the year-ago period.
MRK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.56 per share and revenue of $52.28 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +10.44% and +8.94%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% higher. MRK is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Digging into valuation, MRK currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.4. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.94.
It is also worth noting that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.88. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.9 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 216, which puts it in the bottom 16% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Merck (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $74.63, marking a -0.17% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.04%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.58%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.52%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 0.17% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Medical sector's loss of 5.72% and lagged the S&P 500's loss of 0.15% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MRK as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 29, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.68, up 12% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $12.85 billion, up 6.58% from the year-ago period.
MRK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.56 per share and revenue of $52.28 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +10.44% and +8.94%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% higher. MRK is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Digging into valuation, MRK currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.4. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.94.
It is also worth noting that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.88. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.9 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 216, which puts it in the bottom 16% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.