For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY) 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.
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 997 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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 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. Astellas Pharma Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALPMY's full-year earnings has moved 20.7% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that ALPMY has returned about 0.3% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 7.1%. As we can see, Astellas Pharma Inc. is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Medical sector, AtriCure (ATRC), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 7%.
For AtriCure, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 25.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Astellas Pharma Inc. is a member of the Medical - Drugs industry, which includes 161 individual companies and currently sits at #52 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 2% so far this year, meaning that ALPMY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, AtriCure falls under the Medical - Products industry. Currently, this industry has 82 stocks and is ranked #147. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +3.8%.
Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Astellas Pharma Inc. and AtriCure as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY): Free Stock Analysis Report AtriCure, Inc. (ATRC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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