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Has Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 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. Is Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 899 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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 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. VRTX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTX's full-year earnings has moved 9.57% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that VRTX has returned about 0.63% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have lost about 10.53% on average. This means that Vertex Pharmaceuticals is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

To break things down more, VRTX belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, a group that includes 385 individual companies and currently sits at #102 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 9.78% so far this year, so VRTX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

VRTX will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.


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