For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX Quick QuoteIDXX - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

IDEXX Laboratories is one of 931 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #13 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. IDXX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IDXX's full-year earnings has moved 6.35% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, IDXX has gained about 70.07% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 3.18%. This shows that IDEXX Laboratories is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, IDXX belongs to the Medical - Instruments industry, a group that includes 95 individual stocks and currently sits at #178 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 14.81% this year, meaning that IDXX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track IDXX. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.