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Pfizer (PFE) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) closed at $40.81, marking a +1.77% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.89% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.68%.

Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had lost 7.2% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 4.48%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.9%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Pfizer as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Pfizer is projected to report earnings of $1 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 38.27%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $17.59 billion, down 31.45% from the year-ago period.

PFE's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.49 per share and revenue of $68.36 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -46.96% and -31.87%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Pfizer. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.99% lower. Pfizer is holding a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now.

Investors should also note Pfizer's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 11.49. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.79, so we one might conclude that Pfizer is trading at a discount comparatively.

Also, we should mention that PFE has a PEG ratio of 1.28. 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 Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.59 at yesterday's closing price.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 160, which puts it in the bottom 37% 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.

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


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