The S&P 500 health care sector gained 3% over the past week, with Idexx Laboratories leading the listed gainers and Johnson & Johnson among the weakest despite raising its full-year outlook.
Idexx Laboratories shares climbed 8.18%. CVS Health rose 7.2% and was also among the sector’s top performers. McKesson, Cigna and Medtronic made up the other three names in the five-stock leaders list.
Johnson & Johnson joined Illumina, Humana, Moderna and Vertex among the sector’s five weakest stocks. UnitedHealth Group and Johnson & Johnson each reported third-quarter results above expectations and raised their full-year earnings outlooks.
Since Sept. 30, health care estimate cuts have been the main drag on projected S&P 500 earnings growth, partly offset by higher energy estimates, according to EconoTimes’ earlier earnings analysis.
