Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN)

TotalReturn:

'The total return on a portfolio of investments takes into account not only the capital appreciation on the portfolio, but also the income received on the portfolio. The income typically consists of interest, dividends, and securities lending fees. This contrasts with the price return, which takes into account only the capital gain on an investment.'

• Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 43.4% in the last 5 years of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (86.8%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 35%, which is larger, thus better than the value of 26.3% from the benchmark.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a useful measure of growth over multiple time periods. It can be thought of as the growth rate that gets you from the initial investment value to the ending investment value if you assume that the investment has been compounding over the time period.'

• The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of Alexion Pharmaceuticals is 7.5%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.3%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (8.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 10.5% is higher, thus better.

Volatility:

'Volatility is a rate at which the price of a security increases or decreases for a given set of returns. Volatility is measured by calculating the standard deviation of the annualized returns over a given period of time. It shows the range to which the price of a security may increase or decrease. Volatility measures the risk of a security. It is used in option pricing formula to gauge the fluctuations in the returns of the underlying assets. Volatility indicates the pricing behavior of the security and helps estimate the fluctuations that may happen in a short period of time.'

• The historical 30 days volatility over 5 years of Alexion Pharmaceuticals is 38.3%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (20.9%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (17.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 39% is higher, thus worse.

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• Looking at the downside risk of 25.2% in the last 5 years of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15%)
• Looking at downside deviation in of 24.9% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (12.1%).

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio is the measure of risk-adjusted return of a financial portfolio. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess portfolio return over the risk-free rate relative to its standard deviation. Normally, the 90-day Treasury bill rate is taken as the proxy for risk-free rate. A portfolio with a higher Sharpe ratio is considered superior relative to its peers. The measure was named after William F Sharpe, a Nobel laureate and professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.52) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.13 of Alexion Pharmaceuticals is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.32) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.21 is smaller, thus worse.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio improves upon the Sharpe ratio by isolating downside volatility from total volatility by dividing excess return by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that differentiates harmful volatility from total overall volatility by using the asset's standard deviation of negative asset returns, called downside deviation. The Sortino ratio takes the asset's return and subtracts the risk-free rate, and then divides that amount by the asset's downside deviation. The ratio was named after Frank A. Sortino.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of Alexion Pharmaceuticals is 0.2, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.72) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.46) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.32 is lower, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• Looking at the Downside risk index of 19 in the last 5 years of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.33 )
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 19 is greater, thus worse.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -48.5 days of Alexion Pharmaceuticals is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -46.5 days is lower, thus worse.

MaxDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Max Drawdown Duration is the worst (the maximum/longest) amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs) in days.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 816 days of Alexion Pharmaceuticals is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 423 days is lower, thus better.

AveDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Avg Drawdown Duration is the average amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs), or in other terms the average of time under water of all drawdowns. So in contrast to the Maximum duration it does not measure only one drawdown event but calculates the average of all.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 292 days in the last 5 years of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (122 days)
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 140 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 178 days from the benchmark.