For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Adaptive Biotechnologies (ADPT) 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.

Adaptive Biotechnologies is one of 1011 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #3 within 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 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. Adaptive Biotechnologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADPT's full-year earnings has moved 2.7% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that ADPT has returned about 30.1% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 5%. As we can see, Adaptive Biotechnologies is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Castle Biosciences, Inc. (CSTL), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 5.5%.

In Castle Biosciences, Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 19.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Adaptive Biotechnologies belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, a group that includes 510 individual companies and currently sits at #72 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 11% so far this year, so ADPT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Castle Biosciences, Inc. is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Adaptive Biotechnologies and Castle Biosciences, Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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