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Abbott (ABT) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
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Abbott (ABT - Free Report) closed at $72.53 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.96% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.54% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.64%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.95%.
Coming into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had gained 3.38% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 2.71%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.97%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from ABT as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be January 23, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.81, up 9.46% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $7.79 billion, up 2.64% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.89 per share and revenue of $30.61 billion. These totals would mark changes of +15.6% and +11.74%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ABT. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. ABT is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that ABT has a Forward P/E ratio of 24.9 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 24.74, so we one might conclude that ABT is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.13. 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. Medical - Products stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.14 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 148, putting it in the bottom 42% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Abbott (ABT) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Abbott (ABT - Free Report) closed at $72.53 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.96% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.54% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.64%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.95%.
Coming into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had gained 3.38% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 2.71%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.97%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from ABT as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be January 23, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.81, up 9.46% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $7.79 billion, up 2.64% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.89 per share and revenue of $30.61 billion. These totals would mark changes of +15.6% and +11.74%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ABT. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. ABT is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that ABT has a Forward P/E ratio of 24.9 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 24.74, so we one might conclude that ABT is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.13. 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. Medical - Products stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.14 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 148, putting it in the bottom 42% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.