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Gilead Sciences (GILD) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Gilead Sciences (GILD - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $68.77, moving -0.75% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.2%.

Heading into today, shares of the HIV and hepatitis C drugmaker had gained 0.55% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 4.55% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.06% in that time.

GILD will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect GILD to post earnings of $1.74 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 56.76%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.15 billion, up 19.57% from the year-ago period.

GILD's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.07 per share and revenue of $24.74 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -0.28% and +0.22%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for GILD. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% higher. GILD is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that GILD has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.79 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 24.22.

It is also worth noting that GILD currently has a PEG ratio of 0.64. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.42 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 209, which puts it in the bottom 18% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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