Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Altimmune, Inc. (ALT) 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? A quick glance at the company’s year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Medical sector should help us answer this question.
Altimmune, Inc. is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1190 different companies and currently sits at #3 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. Altimmune, Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALT’s full-year earnings has moved 19.9% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock’s earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that ALT has returned about 23.7% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of -12.9%. As we can see, Altimmune, Inc. is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
argenex (ARGX) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 4.2%.
For argenex, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Altimmune, Inc. belongs to the Medical – Drugs industry, which includes 223 individual stocks and currently sits at #91 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 20.8% this year, meaning that ALT is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, argenex falls under the Medical – Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this industry has 558 stocks and is ranked #73. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -19.9%.
Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Altimmune, Inc. and argenex as they could maintain their solid performance.
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