For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Stryker (SYK) been one of those stocks this year? 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.
Stryker is one of 980 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #7 within 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 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. Stryker is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SYK's full-year earnings has moved 1% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, SYK has gained about 6% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -5.8% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Stryker is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. (BTSG) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 13.7%.
The consensus estimate for BrightSpring Health Services, Inc.'s current year EPS has increased 13.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Stryker belongs to the Medical - Products industry, a group that includes 84 individual stocks and currently sits at #155 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 4.9% so far this year, meaning that SYK is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. belongs to the Medical Services industry. This 58-stock industry is currently ranked #86. The industry has moved -8% year to date.
Stryker and BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Stryker Corporation (SYK): Free Stock Analysis Report BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. (BTSG): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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