Abbott (ABT) closed the most recent trading day at $133.67, moving -2.71% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.8%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.94%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.97%.
Heading into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had gained 4.08% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's gain of 3.12% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 5.12%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Abbott in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.25, signifying a 9.65% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $11.05 billion, up 6.45% from the year-ago period.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $5.16 per share and revenue of $44.68 billion, indicating changes of +10.49% and +6.52%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Abbott. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.01% lower. At present, Abbott boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Abbott is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 26.65. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 18.81.
One should further note that ABT currently holds a PEG ratio of 2.61. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Medical - Products industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.28.
The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 162, finds itself in the bottom 35% echelons 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.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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Abbott Laboratories (ABT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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