AbbVie (ABBV) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

Zacks
Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

In the latest trading session, AbbVie (ABBV) closed at $87.59, marking a +0.72% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.18% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.14%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.74%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugmaker had lost 0.88% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Medical sector's loss of 3.85% and the S&P 500's loss of 6.19% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from ABBV as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 25, 2019. On that day, ABBV is projected to report earnings of $1.92 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 29.73%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.36 billion, up 8.07% from the prior-year quarter.

ABBV's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.93 per share and revenue of $32.78 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +41.61% and +16.17%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for ABBV. 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.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. ABBV is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, ABBV is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.96. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.36.

Also, we should mention that ABBV has a PEG ratio of 0.81. 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. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.95 at yesterday's closing price.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 76, which puts it in the top 30% 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.

To follow ABBV in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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