Astrazeneca (AZN) closed the latest trading day at $76.32, indicating a -0.97% change from the previous session's end. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.08% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.92%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.41%.

The pharmaceutical's shares have seen an increase of 3.03% over the last month, surpassing the Medical sector's gain of 0.21% and the S&P 500's loss of 8.26%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.10, reflecting a 6.8% increase from the same quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $13.6 billion, showing a 7.3% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.49 per share and a revenue of $57.14 billion, representing changes of +9.25% and +5.67%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.55% downward. Astrazeneca presently features a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

In the context of valuation, Astrazeneca is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 17.17. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 19.17, so one might conclude that Astrazeneca is trading at a discount comparatively.

Also, we should mention that AZN has a PEG ratio of 1.49. 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 Medical - Biomedical and Genetics was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.55 at yesterday's closing price.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 73, placing it within the top 30% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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