Eli Lilly (LLY) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

Eli Lilly (LLY) closed at $327.27 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.51% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.3%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.11%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugmaker had gained 0.66% over the past month. This has outpaced the Medical sector's loss of 0.32% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.62% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Eli Lilly as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Eli Lilly is projected to report earnings of $1.87 per share, which would represent no growth from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $6.88 billion, up 2.11% from the prior-year quarter.

LLY's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $8.27 per share and revenue of $29.03 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.35% and +2.5%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Eli Lilly should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% higher within the past month. Eli Lilly is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Eli Lilly is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 39.38. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.38.

It is also worth noting that LLY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.26. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.09 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 157, which puts it in the bottom 38% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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