Has Boston Scientific (BSX) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks This Year?

Zacks
07 Feb

Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Boston Scientific (BSX) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Boston Scientific is one of 1012 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Boston Scientific is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BSX's full-year earnings has moved 4.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that BSX has returned about 17.6% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 6.3%. This means that Boston Scientific is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Alphatec (ATEC) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 24.4%.

For Alphatec, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Boston Scientific belongs to the Medical - Products industry, a group that includes 83 individual stocks and currently sits at #133 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 10.5% this year, meaning that BSX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Alphatec, however, belongs to the Medical - Instruments industry. Currently, this 85-stock industry is ranked #85. The industry has moved +9.2% so far this year.

Boston Scientific and Alphatec could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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