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Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Medical Stocks Now

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Two factors often determine stock prices in the long run: earnings and interest rates. Investors can't control the latter, but they can focus on a company's earnings results every quarter.

Life and the stock market are both about expectations, and rising above what is expected is often rewarded, while falling short can come with negative consequences. Investors might want to try to capture stronger returns by finding positive earnings surprises.

Now that we know how important earnings and earnings surprises are, it's time to show investors how to take advantage of these events to boost their returns by utilizing the Zacks Earnings ESP filter.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, Explained

The Zacks Earnings ESP is more formally known as the Expected Surprise Prediction, and it aims to grab the inside track on the latest analyst estimate revisions ahead of a company's report. The idea is relatively intuitive as a newer projection might be based on more complete information.

Now that we understand the basic idea, let's look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.

When we join a positive earnings ESP with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or stronger, stocks posted a positive bottom-line surprise 70% of the time. Plus, this system saw investors produce roughly 28% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Stocks with a #3 (Hold) ranking, which is most stocks covered at 60%, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. But stocks that fall into the #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) ranking, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market. Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.

Should You Consider Moderna?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 30 days from its next quarterly earnings release on May 2, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at -$3.20 a share.

MRNA has an Earnings ESP figure of +4.89%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the -$3.20 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of -$3.36. Moderna is one of a large database of stocks with positive ESPs. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

MRNA is just one of a large group of Medical stocks with a positive ESP figure. Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Slated to report earnings on May 7, 2024, Pfizer holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is $0.66 a share 35 days from its next quarterly update.

For Pfizer, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.57 is +15.03%.

MRNA and PFE's positive ESP metrics may signal that a positive earnings surprise for both stocks is on the horizon.

Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're Reported

Use the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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Pfizer Inc. (PFE) - free report >>

Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) - free report >>

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