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Astrazeneca (AZN) Rises But Trails Market: What Investors Should Know

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Astrazeneca (AZN - Free Report) closed at $63.23 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.46% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.65%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.38%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.48%.

Shares of the pharmaceutical witnessed a loss of 5.68% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Medical sector with its loss of 5.83% and underperforming the S&P 500's loss of 2.79%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on November 9, 2023. On that day, Astrazeneca is projected to report earnings of $0.79 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 5.95%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $11.49 billion, up 4.59% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.65 per share and revenue of $45.7 billion, which would represent changes of +9.61% and +3.03%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.49% downward. Astrazeneca is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, Astrazeneca is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.26. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.57.

Investors should also note that AZN has a PEG ratio of 1.26 right now. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.9.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 224, placing it within the bottom 12% of over 250 industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.


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