Has ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks This Year?

The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is one of 883 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 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 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. ACAD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACAD’s full-year earnings has moved 9.02% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company’s earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that ACAD has returned about 179.47% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 11.02%. This means that ACADIA Pharmaceuticals is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, ACAD belongs to the Medical – Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes 374 individual stocks and currently sits at #62 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 10.18% so far this year, meaning that ACAD is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to ACAD as it looks to continue its solid performance.

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