Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) closed at $213.52 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.46% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 5.18%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 6.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 4.7%.
Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had lost 14.43% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 18.36%, while the S&P 500 lost 24.68%.
VRTX will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect VRTX to post earnings of $1.77 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 55.26%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.25 billion, up 46.1% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.57 per share and revenue of $5.23 billion, which would represent changes of +42.03% and +25.68%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for VRTX should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. VRTX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Digging into valuation, VRTX currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 27.8. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 23.84, so we one might conclude that VRTX is trading at a premium comparatively.
Investors should also note that VRTX has a PEG ratio of 0.98 right now. 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 - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.57 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 77, putting it in the top 31% 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.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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