Why Astrazeneca (AZN) Outpaced the Stock Market Today

The most recent trading session ended with Astrazeneca (AZN) standing at $65.35, reflecting a +1.41% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.09%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 1.18%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.03%.Heading into today, shares of the pharmaceutical had gained 0.28% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 2.76% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.71% in that time.Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Astrazeneca to post earnings of $1.06 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 45.21%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $14.26 billion, showing a 18.57% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.11 per share and revenue of $53.35 billion, which would represent changes of +13.22% and +16.46%, respectively, from the prior year.Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.41% higher within the past month. Right now, Astrazeneca possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).Looking at valuation, Astrazeneca is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.67. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 13.67.We can also see that AZN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.15. 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. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.45 as of yesterday's close.The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 157, putting it in the bottom 38% of all 250+ industries.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.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>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 ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks