Astrazeneca (AZN) Rises But Trails Market: What Investors Should Know

The most recent trading session ended with Astrazeneca (AZN) standing at $67.87, reflecting a +1.45% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change lagged the S&P 500's 2.51% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 2.66%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 2.71%.Coming into today, shares of the pharmaceutical had lost 9.7% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 11.09%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.86%.Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on April 29, 2025. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.10, up 6.8% from the prior-year quarter. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $13.68 billion, reflecting a 7.88% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.AZN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.49 per share and revenue of $57.45 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +9.25% and +6.24%, respectively.Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca should also be noted by investors. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.27% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Astrazeneca is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Astrazeneca has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.91 right now. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 15.44 for its industry.Also, we should mention that AZN has a PEG ratio of 1.24. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.25 at yesterday's closing price.The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, finds itself in the top 31% echelons 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.Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AstraZeneca PLC (AZN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks