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Why the Market Dipped But Astrazeneca (AZN) Gained Today

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In the latest close session, Astrazeneca (AZN - Free Report) was up +2.25% at $163.78. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.48%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.29%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.56%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical had gained 2.38% outpaced the Medical sector's loss of 2.01% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.82%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Astrazeneca in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.17, down 8.82% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $16.07 billion, up 5.82% from the prior-year quarter.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $9.34 per share and a revenue of $62.93 billion, signifying shifts of +1.97% and +7.14%, respectively, from the last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 8.49% decrease. Astrazeneca is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Astrazeneca has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.14 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 20.57.

Meanwhile, AZN's PEG ratio is currently 1.36. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. AZN's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.87 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 163, this industry ranks in the bottom 34% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

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