In the latest trading session, Gilead Sciences (GILD) closed at $123.18, marking a -1.38% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.14%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.24%.
Coming into today, shares of the HIV and hepatitis C drugmaker had gained 0.47% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 0.56%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.94%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Gilead Sciences in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.86, indicating a 2.11% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $7.57 billion, indicating a 0.05% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $8.17 per share and a revenue of $29.06 billion, indicating changes of +76.84% and +1.05%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Gilead Sciences. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% higher. Gilead Sciences presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Gilead Sciences has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.3 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.93, which means Gilead Sciences is trading at a discount to the group.
Investors should also note that GILD has a PEG ratio of 0.69 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. GILD's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.72 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 106, which puts it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.
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.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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