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Merck (MRK) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
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Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $113.54, moving +0.98% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.45% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.99%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 1.84% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 2.16% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.25% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Merck as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Merck is projected to report earnings of $1.85 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 1.07%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $14.42 billion, down 1.21% from the year-ago period.
MRK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.95 per share and revenue of $58.79 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -7.09% and -0.83%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Merck currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Merck has a Forward P/E ratio of 16.18 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 14.6, so we one might conclude that Merck is trading at a premium comparatively.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.96. 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. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.76 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, putting it in the top 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Merck (MRK) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $113.54, moving +0.98% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.45% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.99%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 1.84% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 2.16% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.25% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Merck as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Merck is projected to report earnings of $1.85 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 1.07%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $14.42 billion, down 1.21% from the year-ago period.
MRK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.95 per share and revenue of $58.79 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -7.09% and -0.83%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Merck currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Merck has a Forward P/E ratio of 16.18 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 14.6, so we one might conclude that Merck is trading at a premium comparatively.
Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 1.96. 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. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.76 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, putting it in the top 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.