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Has CTI BioPharma (CTIC) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has CTI BioPharma been one of those stocks this year? 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.

CTI BioPharma is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 1181 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. CTI BioPharma is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CTIC's full-year earnings has moved 7.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, CTIC has returned 121.4% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 17%. As we can see, CTI BioPharma is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Esperion Therapeutics (ESPR - Free Report) . The stock is up 17.4% year-to-date.

In Esperion Therapeutics' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, CTI BioPharma belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry, a group that includes 218 individual companies and currently sits at #85 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 30.8% so far this year, so CTIC is performing better in this area. Esperion Therapeutics is also part of the same industry.

CTI BioPharma and Esperion Therapeutics could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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