Is Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?

VRTX

For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Medical sector should help us answer this question.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 902 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. VRTX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTX's full-year earnings has moved 5.11% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, VRTX has returned 9.46% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 1.41%. This shows that Vertex Pharmaceuticals is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Breaking things down more, VRTX is a member of the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes 385 individual companies and currently sits at #81 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 1.69% so far this year, so VRTX is performing better in this area.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to VRTX as it looks to continue its solid performance.

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