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Are Medical Stocks Lagging Amneal Pharmaceuticals (AMRX) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Amneal Pharmaceuticals (AMRX - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals is one of 1024 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #5 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Amneal Pharmaceuticals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMRX's full-year earnings has moved 6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, AMRX has returned 22.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 7% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Amneal Pharmaceuticals is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH - Free Report) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 63.8%.

The consensus estimate for Aveanna Healthcare's current year EPS has increased 3.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Amneal Pharmaceuticals is a member of the Medical - Drugs industry, which includes 181 individual companies and currently sits at #97 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 1% this year, meaning that AMRX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Aveanna Healthcare belongs to the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry. This 18-stock industry is currently ranked #60. The industry has moved +10.4% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Amneal Pharmaceuticals and Aveanna Healthcare as they could maintain their solid performance.


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