In the latest market close, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) reached $502.92, with a +1.51% movement compared to the previous day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.91%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.5%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.96%.

The drugmaker's stock has climbed by 9.32% in the past month, exceeding the Medical sector's loss of 1.88% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.38%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $4.19, indicating a 11.97% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $2.81 billion, reflecting a 4.56% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

VRTX's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $17.65 per share and revenue of $11.85 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4102.38% and +7.56%, respectively.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-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 reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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 varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.38% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 28.07. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.77.

We can also see that VRTX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.2. 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. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.51.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 64, placing it within the top 26% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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 use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

Zacks Investment Research