Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Astrazeneca (AZN) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

The latest trading session saw Astrazeneca (AZN - Free Report) ending at $69.45, denoting a +1.97% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.74%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.01%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.68%.

Coming into today, shares of the pharmaceutical had gained 0.78% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 4.72%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.8%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Astrazeneca in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on April 25, 2024. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.95, down 1.04% from the prior-year quarter. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $12 billion, showing a 10.27% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.02 per share and a revenue of $51.01 billion, representing changes of +10.74% and +11.34%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. 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.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.08% lower. As of now, Astrazeneca holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Astrazeneca is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.95. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.1.

It's also important to note that AZN currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.25. 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. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.71 as of yesterday's close.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 223, positioning it in the bottom 12% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) - free report >>

Published in