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

VRTX

Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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 our Medical group, which includes 888 different companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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 #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTX's full-year earnings has moved 15.40% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that VRTX has returned about 20.52% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have lost about 4.90% on average. This shows that Vertex Pharmaceuticals is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, VRTX belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, a group that includes 382 individual stocks and currently sits at #29 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 4.32% this year, meaning that VRTX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Medical sector will want to keep a close eye on VRTX as it attempts to continue its solid performance.

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