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Why the Market Dipped But Amgen (AMGN) Gained Today

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In the latest trading session, Amgen (AMGN - Free Report) closed at $318.65, marking a +0.47% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.07%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.62%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.71%.

The the stock of world's largest biotech drugmaker has risen by 8.93% in the past month, leading the Medical sector's gain of 0.53% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.03%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Amgen in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Amgen to post earnings of $4.18 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 5.56%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $8.01 billion, indicating a 7.52% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $20.63 per share and revenue of $35 billion, which would represent changes of +3.98% and +4.72%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Amgen. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.14% higher. Amgen presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Amgen is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.37. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.29.

Investors should also note that AMGN has a PEG ratio of 2.64 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.56 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 70, putting it in the top 28% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.


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