Investors focused on the Medical space have likely heard of Quidel (QDEL Quick QuoteQDEL - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.

Quidel is one of 888 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. QDEL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for QDEL's full-year earnings has moved 91.01% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, QDEL has gained about 128.98% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 4.10%. This means that Quidel is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Breaking things down more, QDEL is a member of the Medical - Products industry, which includes 81 individual companies and currently sits at #65 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 9.33% so far this year, so QDEL is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to QDEL as it looks to continue its solid performance.