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Novartis (NVS) Beats Stock Market Upswing: What Investors Need to Know

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In the latest trading session, Novartis (NVS - Free Report) closed at $106.31, marking a +0.7% move from the previous day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.18%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.07%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.1%.

The drugmaker's stock has climbed by 10.05% in the past month, exceeding the Medical sector's gain of 6.12% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.75%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Novartis in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Novartis to post earnings of $1.66 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 9.93%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $11.65 billion, showing an 8.2% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Novartis. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.3% higher within the past month. Right now, Novartis possesses a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

From a valuation perspective, Novartis is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.59. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.45.

Investors should also note that NVS has a PEG ratio of 1.67 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.86.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 160, finds itself in the bottom 37% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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