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Merck (MRK) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
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Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $78.30, moving +1.18% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.09% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.6%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 3.71% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's gain of 0.72% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 4.45% in that time.
MRK will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 29, 2021. In that report, analysts expect MRK to post earnings of $1.65 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 10%. 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 $52.07 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +10.44% and +8.5%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. 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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% higher. MRK currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, MRK currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.8. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.44, so we one might conclude that MRK is trading at a discount comparatively.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.95. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.9 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 213, which puts it in the bottom 17% 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) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $78.30, moving +1.18% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.09% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.6%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 3.71% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's gain of 0.72% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 4.45% in that time.
MRK will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 29, 2021. In that report, analysts expect MRK to post earnings of $1.65 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 10%. 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 $52.07 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +10.44% and +8.5%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. 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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% higher. MRK currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, MRK currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.8. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.44, so we one might conclude that MRK is trading at a discount comparatively.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.95. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.9 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 213, which puts it in the bottom 17% 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.