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Eli Lilly (LLY) Stock Declines While Market Improves: Some Information for Investors

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The most recent trading session ended with Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) standing at $909.32, reflecting a -1.65% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.62%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.6%.

Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had lost 2.57% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 2.27%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.71%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Eli Lilly in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $4.53, up 4430% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $12.18 billion, up 28.24% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $16.49 per share and a revenue of $46.35 billion, demonstrating changes of +160.92% and +35.82%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Eli Lilly. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent 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, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.09% higher. Eli Lilly is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

In the context of valuation, Eli Lilly is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 56.06. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 15.78 for its industry.

One should further note that LLY currently holds a PEG ratio of 2.8. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.67 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 44, this industry ranks in the top 18% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

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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