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Is Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?

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Investors focused on the Medical space have likely heard of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of VRTX and the rest of the Medical group's stocks.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is one of 901 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #10 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 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 #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTX's full-year earnings has moved 14.03% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that VRTX has returned about 25.30% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of 1.67%. This shows that Vertex Pharmaceuticals is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, VRTX belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, a group that includes 393 individual companies and currently sits at #178 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1.71% so far this year, meaning that VRTX is performing better 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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