In the latest trading session, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) closed at $408.85, marking a +1.15% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.06%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.17%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.39%.
Heading into today, shares of the drugmaker had gained 1.91% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 5.06% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.94%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $4.56, showcasing a 4.11% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.04 billion, up 9.78% from the year-ago period.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $17.98 per share and a revenue of $11.98 billion, signifying shifts of +4180.95% and +8.75%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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 remained stagnant within the past month. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note Vertex Pharmaceuticals's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 22.48. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 19.2, so one might conclude that Vertex Pharmaceuticals is trading at a premium comparatively.
The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 73, this industry ranks in the top 30% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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