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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Stock Moves -1.02%: What You Should Know

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) closed at $287.97 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.02% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.21%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.33%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.49%.

Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had gained 17.07% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 8.27%, while the S&P 500 gained 5.85%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Vertex Pharmaceuticals as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Vertex Pharmaceuticals to post earnings of $3.59 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 20.47%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.08 billion, up 20.69% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $14.58 per share and revenue of $8.55 billion, which would represent changes of +11.98% and +12.93%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of 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. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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 0.51% higher within the past month. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note Vertex Pharmaceuticals's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 19.95. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.82.

Investors should also note that VRTX has a PEG ratio of 1.28 right now. 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 Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.28 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 144, which puts it in the bottom 44% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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