Abbott (ABT) closed at $107.79 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.66% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.15% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.63%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 7.23%.
Coming into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had gained 5.48% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 2.4%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.08%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Abbott as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.04, down 27.27% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $9.67 billion, down 14.08% from the prior-year quarter.
ABT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.39 per share and revenue of $39.38 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -17.79% and -9.79%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Abbott should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.07% higher within the past month. Abbott is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Abbott currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 24.74. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 24.2, which means Abbott is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that ABT has a PEG ratio of 4.86. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Medical - Products was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.6 at yesterday's closing price.
The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, putting it in the top 26% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpAbbott Laboratories (ABT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
