Are Medical Stocks Lagging Astellas Pharma (ALPMY) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.Astellas Pharma Inc. is one of 998 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.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. Astellas Pharma Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALPMY's full-year earnings has moved 15.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.Based on the latest available data, ALPMY has gained about 1% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have lost about 2.4% on average. As we can see, Astellas Pharma Inc. is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is AtriCure (ATRC). The stock is up 8.1% year-to-date.For AtriCure, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 25.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).To break things down more, Astellas Pharma Inc. belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry, a group that includes 164 individual companies and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 3% so far this year, meaning that ALPMY is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.In contrast, AtriCure falls under the Medical - Products industry. Currently, this industry has 83 stocks and is ranked #140. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +5.7%.Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Astellas Pharma Inc. and AtriCure as they could maintain their solid performance.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY): Free Stock Analysis Report AtriCure, Inc. (ATRC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks