Gilead Sciences (GILD) Rises But Trails Market: What Investors Should Know

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Gilead Sciences (GILD) closed the latest trading day at $73.41, indicating a +0.2% change from the previous session's end. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.57%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.83%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.39%.

Heading into today, shares of the HIV and hepatitis C drugmaker had gained 2.35% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's gain of 0.13% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 2.97% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Gilead Sciences in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.56, indicating a 13.87% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $6.3 billion, reflecting a 0.82% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $7.07 per share and revenue of $27.45 billion, indicating changes of +5.21% and +1.22%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Gilead Sciences. 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 suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.26% lower. Gilead Sciences is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Gilead Sciences is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.36. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 24.12.

One should further note that GILD currently holds a PEG ratio of 0.93. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.56 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 90, putting it in the top 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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