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McKesson (MCK) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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McKesson (MCK - Free Report) closed at $330 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.08% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.92%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 2.15%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.16%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the prescription drug distributor had gained 7.39% over the past month. This has outpaced the Medical sector's gain of 5.68% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.54% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from McKesson as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be August 3, 2022. On that day, McKesson is projected to report earnings of $5.30 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 4.68%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $63.87 billion, up 1.91% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $23.26 per share and revenue of $264.78 billion. These totals would mark changes of -1.82% and +0.31%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for McKesson. 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.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.05% higher. McKesson is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, McKesson currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.03. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.71.

Meanwhile, MCK's PEG ratio is currently 1.47. 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. MCK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.16 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, which puts it in the top 27% 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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