The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Illumina (ILMN Quick QuoteILMN - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Illumina is one of 844 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 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. ILMN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ILMN's full-year earnings has moved 2.30% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, ILMN has returned 4.30% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 4.11% on average. As we can see, Illumina is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, ILMN belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes 352 individual stocks and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 2.68% this year, meaning that ILMN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Medical sector will want to keep a close eye on ILMN as it attempts to continue its solid performance.