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Merck (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
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Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $108.70, moving -1.15% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.67%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.93%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 9.29%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 0.09% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 1.19% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 2.65% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Merck as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be August 1, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.85, down 1.07% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $14.42 billion, down 1.21% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.95 per share and revenue of $58.79 billion. These totals would mark changes of -7.09% and -0.83%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck should also be noted by investors. 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. 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, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Merck is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
In terms of valuation, Merck is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.82. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.36.
It is also worth noting that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.92. 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 Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.6 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 183, which puts it in the bottom 28% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Merck (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $108.70, moving -1.15% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.67%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.93%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 9.29%.
Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 0.09% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 1.19% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 2.65% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Merck as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be August 1, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.85, down 1.07% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $14.42 billion, down 1.21% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.95 per share and revenue of $58.79 billion. These totals would mark changes of -7.09% and -0.83%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck should also be noted by investors. 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. 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, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Merck is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
In terms of valuation, Merck is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.82. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.36.
It is also worth noting that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.92. 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 Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.6 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 183, which puts it in the bottom 28% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.