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Merck (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
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In the latest trading session, Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $109.88, marking a -0.05% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.19%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.76%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.29%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 1.72% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 0.84% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.06% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Merck as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be February 2, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.55, down 13.89% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $13.71 billion, up 1.36% from the year-ago period.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.61% lower. Merck is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Merck is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.07. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.63.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.38. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.8 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 46, putting it in the top 19% 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.
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 (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $109.88, marking a -0.05% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.19%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.76%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.29%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 1.72% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 0.84% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.06% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Merck as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be February 2, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.55, down 13.89% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $13.71 billion, up 1.36% from the year-ago period.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.61% lower. Merck is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Merck is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.07. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.63.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.38. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.8 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 46, putting it in the top 19% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.