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Amgen (AMGN) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Amgen (AMGN - Free Report) closed at $224 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.66% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.54%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.02%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.12%.

Coming into today, shares of the world's largest biotech drugmaker had lost 2.22% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 12.54%, while the S&P 500 lost 7.87%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Amgen as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $4.11, up 7.87% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.91 billion, up 4.13% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Amgen. 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.

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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.62% lower within the past month. Amgen is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Amgen is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 12.43. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.98, which means Amgen is trading at a discount to the group.

It is also worth noting that AMGN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.47. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.07 at yesterday's closing price.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 156, which puts it in the bottom 39% 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.

To follow AMGN in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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