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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $194.80, moving +0.92% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.18% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugmaker had lost 11.09% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 4.62% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.43% in that time.

VRTX will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.73, up 4.6% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.72 billion, up 12.54% from the prior-year quarter.

VRTX's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $11.22 per share and revenue of $6.92 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.72% and +11.44%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for VRTX. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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. 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 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. VRTX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, VRTX is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 17.2. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 23.33, so we one might conclude that VRTX is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that VRTX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.45. 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. Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.4 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 212, putting it in the bottom 17% 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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