Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) closed at $451.59 in the latest trading session, marking a -2.36% move from the prior day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.36%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.64%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.46%.

Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had lost 3.11% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 5.66%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.76%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $4.47, reflecting a 10.1% increase from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $3.05 billion, reflecting a 10.11% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $19.19 per share and a revenue of $12.98 billion, signifying shifts of +4.29% and +8.13%, respectively, from the last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Vertex Pharmaceuticals should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.49% lower within the past month. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note Vertex Pharmaceuticals's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 24.1. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 18.83.

It is also worth noting that VRTX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.74. 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. VRTX's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.55 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 140, putting it in the bottom 43% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX): Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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