In the latest market close, Novo Nordisk (NVO) reached $87.17, with a -0.99% movement compared to the previous day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.55% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.52%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.7%.

Shares of the drugmaker witnessed a gain of 1% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Medical sector with its gain of 0.52% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.56%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Novo Nordisk in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.96, marking a 15.66% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $11.55 billion, showing a 21.39% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $3.84 per share and a revenue of $49.41 billion, indicating changes of +17.07% and +17.38%, respectively, from the former year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Novo Nordisk. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.04% lower. Novo Nordisk presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Novo Nordisk has a Forward P/E ratio of 22.92 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 14.67, so one might conclude that Novo Nordisk is trading at a premium comparatively.

It's also important to note that NVO currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.95. 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 Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.43 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 60, this industry ranks in the top 24% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. 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.

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Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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