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Eli Lilly (LLY) closed at $243.75 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.07% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.11%.

Coming into today, shares of the drugmaker had gained 3.87% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.72%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.61%.

LLY will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 26, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.98, up 28.57% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.66 billion, up 15.98% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.90 per share and revenue of $27.41 billion. These totals would mark changes of -0.38% and +11.7%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for LLY. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.38% higher. LLY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, LLY is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 30.53. This represents a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 13.76.

Meanwhile, LLY’s PEG ratio is currently 1.95. 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 2.1 at yesterday’s closing price.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 94, putting it in the top 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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