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Are Medical Stocks Lagging Acer Therapeutics (ACER) This Year?

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The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Acer Therapeutics Inc. (ACER - Free Report) 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.

Acer Therapeutics Inc. is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1181 different companies and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Acer Therapeutics Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACER's full-year earnings has moved 36.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, ACER has moved about 12.7% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -17.4% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Acer Therapeutics Inc. is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) . The stock is up 52.7% year-to-date.

In Cardinal Health's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Acer Therapeutics Inc. belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry, a group that includes 218 individual stocks and currently sits at #87 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 30.9% this year, meaning that ACER is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Cardinal Health, however, belongs to the Medical - Dental Supplies industry. Currently, this 18-stock industry is ranked #199. The industry has moved -11.6% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Acer Therapeutics Inc. and Cardinal Health as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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