Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Stock Moves -1.01%: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

In the latest trading session, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) closed at $283.45, marking a -1.01% move from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.72%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.62%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.09%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugmaker had lost 1.68% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Medical sector's loss of 6.61% and the S&P 500's loss of 9.09% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Vertex Pharmaceuticals as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Vertex Pharmaceuticals to post earnings of $3.65 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 2.53%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.22 billion, up 12.1% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $14.14 per share and revenue of $8.77 billion. These totals would mark changes of +8.6% and +15.8%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for 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.

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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.25. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.87, so we one might conclude that Vertex Pharmaceuticals is trading at a premium comparatively.

We can also see that VRTX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.81. 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. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.24 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 78, which puts it in the top 31% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) - free report >>

Published in