Are Medical Stocks Lagging Apexigen, Inc. (APGN) 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. Apexigen, Inc. (APGN) 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.
Apexigen, Inc. is one of 1172 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #5 within 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Apexigen, Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APGN's full-year earnings has moved 34.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the most recent data, APGN has returned 11.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have lost about 4.5% on average. This means that Apexigen, Inc. is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Atara Biotherapeutics (ATRA). The stock is up 9.2% year-to-date.
For Atara Biotherapeutics, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 6.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Apexigen, Inc. belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes 556 individual stocks and currently sits at #100 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 4.5% so far this year, so APGN is performing better in this area. Atara Biotherapeutics is also part of the same industry.
Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Apexigen, Inc. and Atara Biotherapeutics as they could maintain their solid performance.
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