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Merck (MRK) ended the recent trading session at $128.12, demonstrating a +0.28% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock performed in line with S&P 500. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.53%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.4%.

The the stock of pharmaceutical company has fallen by 1.33% in the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 0.79% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.78%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Merck in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on July 30, 2024. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $2.14, signifying a 203.88% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $15.88 billion, indicating a 5.64% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.63 per share and a revenue of $64.48 billion, representing changes of +471.52% and +7.26%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck should also be noted by investors. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.1% decrease. Merck is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Merck is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.81. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 15.05 of its industry.

It's also important to note that MRK currently trades at a PEG ratio of 2.47. 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 Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.9 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 167, positioning it in the bottom 34% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the 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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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.