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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) closed at $317.58 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.85% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.19%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.01%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.19%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugmaker had gained 1.73% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 5.65% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.7% in that time.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Vertex Pharmaceuticals to post earnings of $3.57 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 5.93%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $2.29 billion, up 10.6% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $14.65 per share and revenue of $8.91 billion, which would represent changes of +12.52% and +17.63%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.31% higher. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.28. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.97.

It is also worth noting that VRTX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.56. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.35 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 56, putting it in the top 23% 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.

To follow VRTX in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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