Back to top
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Image: Shutterstock
Should You Buy Merck & Co. (MRK) Ahead of Earnings?
Investors are always looking for stocks that are poised to beat at earnings season and Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK - Free Report) may be one such company. The firm has earnings coming up pretty soon, and events are shaping up quite nicely for their report.
That is because Merck & Co. is seeing favorable earnings estimate revision activity as of late, which is generally a precursor to an earnings beat. After all, analysts raising estimates right before earnings — with the most up-to-date information possible — is a pretty good indicator of some favorable trends underneath the surface for MRK in this report.
In fact, the Most Accurate Estimate for the current quarter is currently at $1.59 per share for MRK, compared to a broader Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.54 per share. This suggests that analysts have very recently bumped up their estimates for MRK, giving the stock a Zacks Earnings ESP of +2.90% heading into earnings season.
Merck & Co., Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Merck & Co., Inc. price-eps-surprise | Merck & Co., Inc. Quote
Why is this Important?
A positive reading for the Zacks Earnings ESP has proven to be very powerful in producing both positive surprises, and outperforming the market. Our recent 10-year backtest shows that stocks that have a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better show a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and have returned over 28% on average in annual returns (see more Top Earnings ESP stocks here).
Given that MRK has a Zacks Rank #3 and an ESP in positive territory, investors might want to consider this stock ahead of earnings. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Clearly, recent earnings estimate revisions suggest that good things are ahead for Merck & Co. and that a beat might be in the cards for the upcoming report.