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Gilead Sciences (GILD) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here's Why

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Gilead Sciences (GILD - Free Report) closed at $81.78 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.58% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.27% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.43%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.19%.

Coming into today, shares of the HIV and hepatitis C drugmaker had gained 10.73% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 7.01%, while the S&P 500 gained 6.94%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Gilead Sciences in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Gilead Sciences is projected to report earnings of $1.78 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.59%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $7.07 billion, indicating a 4.26% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $6.74 per share and a revenue of $27.08 billion, signifying shifts of -7.16% and -0.75%, respectively, from the last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Gilead Sciences should also be noted by investors. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.35% lower within the past month. As of now, Gilead Sciences holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Gilead Sciences is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.33. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.45, which means Gilead Sciences is trading at a discount to the group.

We can also see that GILD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.09. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.89 at yesterday's closing price.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, putting it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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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