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Is Alignment Healthcare (ALHC) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Alignment Healthcare (ALHC - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Medical peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Alignment Healthcare is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1184 different companies and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Alignment Healthcare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALHC's full-year earnings has moved 16.3% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, ALHC has gained about 10% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 17.1%. This shows that Alignment Healthcare is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Hanger , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 2.6%.

The consensus estimate for Hanger's current year EPS has increased 4.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Alignment Healthcare belongs to the Medical Services industry, a group that includes 66 individual companies and currently sits at #143 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 26.4% so far this year, meaning that ALHC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Hanger belongs to the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry. This 22-stock industry is currently ranked #183. The industry has moved -24.8% year to date.

Alignment Healthcare and Hanger could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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