Merck (MRK) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

Merck (MRK) ended the recent trading session at $92.25, demonstrating a +1.84% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.59%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.39%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.63%.Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 8.46% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's loss of 0.63% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.42% in that time.Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Merck in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.16, up 4.35% from the prior-year quarter. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $15.75 billion, indicating a 0.16% downward movement from the same quarter last year.MRK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $9.01 per share and revenue of $65.19 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +17.78% and +1.6%, respectively.Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 2.67% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Currently, Merck is carrying a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).Digging into valuation, Merck currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.05. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 12.89.We can additionally observe that MRK currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.79. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry stood at 1.45 at the close of the market yesterday.The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 201, placing it within the bottom 20% of over 250 industries.The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.3% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>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 Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): 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