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Merck (MRK) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
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Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $76.16 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.82% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.02%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.74%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.4%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 8.77% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 0.37% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.91% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Merck as it approaches its next earnings report date. 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.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.64% higher within the past month. Merck is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Investors should also note Merck's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 13.1. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.78, which means Merck is trading at a discount to the group.
Investors should also note that MRK has a PEG ratio of 1.98 right now. 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. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.05 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 159, which puts it in the bottom 38% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Merck (MRK) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $76.16 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.82% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.02%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.74%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.4%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 8.77% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 0.37% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.91% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Merck as it approaches its next earnings report date. 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.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.64% higher within the past month. Merck is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Investors should also note Merck's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 13.1. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.78, which means Merck is trading at a discount to the group.
Investors should also note that MRK has a PEG ratio of 1.98 right now. 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. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.05 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 159, which puts it in the bottom 38% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.