Are Medical Stocks Lagging GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (GSK) 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. Is GSK (GSK) 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.
GSK is one of 1066 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #4 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. GSK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GSK's full-year earnings has moved 7.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that GSK has returned about 13.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 7.9% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, GSK is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Medical sector, Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (AKRO), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 8.5%.
In Akero Therapeutics, Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, GSK belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, a group that includes 516 individual companies and currently sits at #80 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.6% so far this year, so GSK is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. is also part of the same industry.
GSK and Akero Therapeutics, Inc. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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