On Wednesday, Vertex Pharmaceuticals earned a positive adjustment to its Relative Strength (RS) Rating, from 78 to 81.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.
IBD's proprietary RS Rating measures technical performance by using a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score that shows how a stock's price action over the last 52 weeks matches up against that of all other stocks.
History reveals that the best-performing stocks typically have an RS Rating north of 80 in the early stages of their moves.
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While right now is not an ideal time to buy shares, the stock is in an consolidation base, around 4% below the pivot price. It opened higher today, continuing an upswing. But it quickly gave up those gains and closed at the bottom end of today's range, thanks to the overall market direction.
Earnings grew 8% last quarter, up from -13% in the prior report. Revenue also increased, from 13% to 14%.
The company earns the No. 4 rank among its peers in the Medical-Biomed/Biotech industry group. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
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