For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Alcon (ALC) been one of those stocks this year? 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.
Alcon is one of 924 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #10 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
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. Alcon is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALC's full-year earnings has moved 1.5% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the most recent data, ALC has returned 10.6% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 2.9%. This means that Alcon is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Anavex Life Sciences (AVXL). The stock is up 24.4% year-to-date.
In Anavex Life Sciences' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 28.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Alcon belongs to the Medical - Instruments industry, a group that includes 83 individual companies and currently sits at #68 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 5.7% so far this year, meaning that ALC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Anavex Life Sciences, however, belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this 446-stock industry is ranked #87. The industry has moved +9.4% so far this year.
Alcon and Anavex Life Sciences could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Alcon (ALC): Free Stock Analysis Report Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (AVXL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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