Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) closed at $248.43 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.04% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.43% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 1.05%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.92%.
The world's biggest maker of health care products's stock has climbed by 7.12% in the past month, exceeding the Medical sector's loss of 1.34% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.5%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Johnson & Johnson in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.68, reflecting a 3.25% decrease from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $23.43 billion, reflecting a 7.04% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $11.54 per share and a revenue of $100.29 billion, demonstrating changes of +6.95% and +6.47%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Johnson & Johnson. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. As of now, Johnson & Johnson holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Johnson & Johnson is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.1. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.51, which means Johnson & Johnson is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, JNJ's PEG ratio is currently 2.36. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. JNJ's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.26 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 168, which puts it in the bottom 32% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming 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 use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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