Are Medical Stocks Lagging Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH) This Year?

Group 1 - Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH) has shown a year-to-date return of approximately 12.5%, significantly outperforming the average gain of 2.4% in the Medical sector [4] - The Zacks Rank for Aveanna Healthcare is 2 (Buy), indicating a positive outlook based on earnings estimates and revisions, with a 60% increase in the consensus estimate for full-year earnings over the past quarter [3] - Aveanna Healthcare is part of the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry, which has an average gain of 0.3% this year, further highlighting AVAH's strong performance [5] Group 2 - Equillium, Inc. (EQ) has also outperformed the Medical sector with a year-to-date return of 4.3% and holds a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) [4][5] - The consensus estimate for Equillium's current year EPS has risen by 24.8% in the last three months, indicating improving analyst sentiment [5] - The Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes Equillium, has seen a year-to-date increase of 5.8% [6]