Abbott (ABT) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Abbott (ABT) closed at $106.66, marking a +0.91% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.84% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.47%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.27%.
Coming into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had gained 5.2% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 0.54%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.6%.
ABT will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.89, up 5.95% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.43 billion, up 4.4% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.27 per share and revenue of $32.88 billion. These totals would mark changes of +0.93% and +3.05%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ABT. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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 0.4% higher within the past month. ABT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, ABT currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 32.29. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 38.78, so we one might conclude that ABT is trading at a discount comparatively.
It is also worth noting that ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.94. 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. ABT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 4.22 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 175, which puts it in the bottom 32% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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