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Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND - Free Report) closed at $75.06 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.82% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.76%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.59%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.12%.

Heading into today, shares of the drugmaker had gained 7.04% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's gain of 1.57% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.5% in that time.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Ligand Pharmaceuticals to post earnings of $0.58 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 57.35%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $24.54 million, down 51.29% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Ligand Pharmaceuticals. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, Ligand Pharmaceuticals boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Investors should also note Ligand Pharmaceuticals's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 17.3. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 22.01.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 96, positioning it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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