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AbbVie (ABBV) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) closed at $153.94, marking a +1.2% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.07% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.02%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.01%.

Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had gained 1.32% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.58%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.38%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from AbbVie as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect AbbVie to post earnings of $2.87 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 21.58%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $13.66 billion, down 7.79% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11 per share and revenue of $53.5 billion. These totals would mark changes of -20.12% and -7.85%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AbbVie. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

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.

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 remained stagnant within the past month. AbbVie is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, AbbVie is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 13.83. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 14.84, which means AbbVie is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, ABBV's PEG ratio is currently 2.77. 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. ABBV's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.82 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 164, which puts it in the bottom 35% 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.

To follow ABBV in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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