Merck (MRK) ended the recent trading session at $78.27, demonstrating a +1.46% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.01% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.22%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.32%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 2.4% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Medical sector's loss of 2.72% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 5.2% in that time.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Merck in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, Merck is projected to report earnings of $2.03 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 10.96%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $15.69 billion, indicating a 2.64% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.93 per share and a revenue of $64.75 billion, representing changes of +16.73% and +0.91%, respectively, from the prior year.
Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Merck. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% lower. Merck presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Merck is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 8.64. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 13.49.
It's also important to note that MRK currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.71. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.24.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 31, which puts it in the top 13% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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