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Are Medical Stocks Lagging Aquestive Therapeutics (AQST) 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. Aquestive Therapeutics (AQST - 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.

Aquestive Therapeutics is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1084 different companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Aquestive Therapeutics is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AQST's full-year earnings has moved 72.4% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that AQST has returned about 121.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 2.3%. As we can see, Aquestive Therapeutics is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, C4 Therapeutics, Inc. (CCCC - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 2.2%.

In C4 Therapeutics, Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 6.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Aquestive Therapeutics belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry, a group that includes 194 individual companies and currently sits at #67 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 0.6% so far this year, so AQST is performing better in this area.

C4 Therapeutics, Inc. however, belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this 524-stock industry is ranked #67. The industry has moved -12.9% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Aquestive Therapeutics and C4 Therapeutics, Inc. as they could maintain their solid performance.


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