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Merck (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
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Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $72.62, moving -0.33% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.96%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.61%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.04%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 13.28% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 3.52% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.21% in that time.
Merck will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.45, up 9.85% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $12.62 billion, up 0.84% from the prior-year quarter.
MRK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.77 per share and revenue of $48.88 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -2.86% and +1.85%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. 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. 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 0.64% higher. Merck is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Merck has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.63 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.66.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.91. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.92 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 111, which puts it in the top 44% 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
Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $72.62, moving -0.33% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.96%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.61%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.04%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 13.28% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 3.52% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.21% in that time.
Merck will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.45, up 9.85% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $12.62 billion, up 0.84% from the prior-year quarter.
MRK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.77 per share and revenue of $48.88 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -2.86% and +1.85%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. 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. 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 0.64% higher. Merck is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Merck has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.63 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.66.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.91. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.92 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 111, which puts it in the top 44% 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.