The latest trading session saw Abbott (ABT) ending at $132.85, denoting a +0.63% adjustment from its last day's close. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.4%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.28%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.39%.
The the stock of maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs has risen by 0.97% in the past month, leading the Medical sector's loss of 3.41% and undershooting the S&P 500's gain of 6.69%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Abbott in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.25, marking a 9.65% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $11.04 billion, showing a 6.38% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.16 per share and revenue of $44.66 billion, which would represent changes of +10.49% and +6.47%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Abbott. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature 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 suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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 remained steady. Abbott presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Abbott is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.6. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 18.32 of its industry.
One should further note that ABT currently holds a PEG ratio of 2.49. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Medical - Products industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.17 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 143, positioning it in the bottom 43% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
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Abbott Laboratories (ABT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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