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Merck (MRK) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
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Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $75.70 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.33% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.2%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 5.53% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 4.08% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.11% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MRK as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 29, 2021. On that day, MRK is projected to report earnings of $1.58 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.33%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $12.28 billion, up 12.92% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.47 per share and revenue of $49.4 billion. These totals would mark changes of +8.92% and +2.93%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK should also be noted by investors. 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 company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 has moved 0.54% lower. MRK is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, MRK is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.66. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.93.
Also, we should mention that MRK has a PEG ratio of 1.9. 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. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.14 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 175, putting it in the bottom 32% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Merck (MRK) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $75.70 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.33% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.2%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 5.53% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 4.08% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.11% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MRK as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 29, 2021. On that day, MRK is projected to report earnings of $1.58 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.33%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $12.28 billion, up 12.92% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.47 per share and revenue of $49.4 billion. These totals would mark changes of +8.92% and +2.93%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK should also be noted by investors. 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 company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 has moved 0.54% lower. MRK is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, MRK is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.66. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.93.
Also, we should mention that MRK has a PEG ratio of 1.9. 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. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.14 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 175, putting it in the bottom 32% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.