Astrazeneca (AZN) Stock Declines While Market Improves: Some Information for Investors

The latest trading session saw Astrazeneca (AZN) ending at $71.93, denoting a -1.24% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.41% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.08%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.67%.Shares of the pharmaceutical witnessed a gain of 0.54% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Medical sector with its loss of 3.74% and underperforming the S&P 500's gain of 6.13%.Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Astrazeneca in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Astrazeneca is projected to report earnings of $1.11 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 12.12%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $14.03 billion, up 8.42% from the year-ago period.For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $4.49 per share and a revenue of $57.68 billion, demonstrating changes of +9.25% and +6.67%, respectively, from the preceding year.It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Astrazeneca. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.35% lower. As of now, Astrazeneca holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).In terms of valuation, Astrazeneca is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.2. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.51.It is also worth noting that AZN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.34. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. AZN's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.47 as of yesterday's close.The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 74, which puts it in the top 30% 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.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>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 AstraZeneca PLC (AZN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks