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Has Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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Investors focused on the Medical space have likely heard of Alexion Pharmaceuticals , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals is a member of our Medical group, which includes 889 different companies and currently sits at #2 in 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 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. ALXN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALXN's full-year earnings has moved 4.52% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, ALXN has gained about 8.26% so far this year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of 3.18%. This means that Alexion Pharmaceuticals is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Looking more specifically, ALXN belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes 376 individual stocks and currently sits at #61 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 0.16% so far this year, meaning that ALXN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Medical sector will want to keep a close eye on ALXN as it attempts to continue its solid performance.

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