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Is Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks 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. Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS - 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? 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.

Arbutus Biopharma is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1145 different companies and currently sits at #6 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Arbutus Biopharma is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABUS' full-year earnings has moved 2.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that ABUS has returned about 7.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 0.5%. This means that Arbutus Biopharma is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Hologic (HOLX - Free Report) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 12.4%.

Over the past three months, Hologic's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Arbutus Biopharma is a member of the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes 552 individual companies and currently sits at #93 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 5.8% this year, meaning that ABUS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Hologic belongs to the Medical - Instruments industry. This 94-stock industry is currently ranked #122. The industry has moved +4.4% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Arbutus Biopharma and Hologic as they could maintain their solid performance.


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