The most recent trading session ended with Abbott (ABT) standing at $131.63, reflecting a -0.23% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 4.84%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 3.98%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 5.97%.

The maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs's shares have seen a decrease of 4.2% over the last month, surpassing the Medical sector's loss of 4.6% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.7%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Abbott in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on April 16, 2025. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.07, marking a 9.18% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $10.42 billion, indicating a 4.54% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $5.15 per share and a revenue of $44.42 billion, indicating changes of +10.28% and +5.9%, respectively, from the former year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Abbott. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.04% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, Abbott boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

With respect to valuation, Abbott is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.63. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.06.

It's also important to note that ABT currently trades at a PEG ratio of 2.46. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Medical - Products industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.12 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 168, putting it in the bottom 33% of all 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.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.

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Abbott Laboratories (ABT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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