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Abbott (ABT) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market: Important Facts to Note

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The latest trading session saw Abbott (ABT - Free Report) ending at $115.59, denoting a -0.33% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.19%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.55%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.18%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had lost 0.71% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 0.81% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 6.66% in that time.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Abbott in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.34, reflecting a 12.61% increase from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $11.03 billion, reflecting a 7.71% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

ABT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.67 per share and revenue of $42.01 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +5.18% and +4.73%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Abbott. 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.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. Right now, Abbott possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Abbott is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.83. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 26.49.

Also, we should mention that ABT has a PEG ratio of 2.73. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. ABT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.58 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 79, which puts it in the top 32% 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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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