The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Illumina (ILMN Quick QuoteILMN - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Illumina is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 1016 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #16. 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. ILMN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ILMN's full-year earnings has moved 12.36% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, ILMN has moved about 29.51% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 2.88% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Illumina is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, ILMN belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, a group that includes 466 individual stocks and currently sits at #210 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 1.52% so far this year, so ILMN is performing better in this area.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track ILMN. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.