For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Avenue Therapeutics (ATXI Quick QuoteATXI - 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.

Avenue Therapeutics is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 887 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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 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. ATXI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATXI's full-year earnings has moved 48.70% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, ATXI has moved about 15.31% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have lost about 1.63% on average. This means that Avenue Therapeutics is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

To break things down more, ATXI belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry, a group that includes 170 individual companies and currently sits at #59 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 5.32% this year, meaning that ATXI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

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