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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $332.84, moving +0.53% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.09% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 4.87%.

Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had gained 5.31% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 4.96%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.31%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Vertex Pharmaceuticals as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be May 1, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.95, down 16.19% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.31 billion, up 9.9% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $13.98 per share and revenue of $9.64 billion. These totals would mark changes of -6.05% and +7.99%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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 1.72% lower within the past month. Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.68. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 20.76, which means Vertex Pharmaceuticals is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that VRTX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.55. 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 Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.95 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 88, which puts it in the top 35% 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.

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


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