Yahoo Finance Has United States Steel (X) Outpaced Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?
The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has United States Steel (X) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.
United States Steel is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 238 different companies and currently sits at #11 in 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. United States Steel is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for X's full-year earnings has moved 8.1% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the latest available data, X has gained about 12.7% so far this year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 7.3%. This means that United States Steel is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Olympic Steel (ZEUS). The stock has returned 39.5% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Olympic Steel's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 46.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, United States Steel is a member of the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 22 individual companies and currently sits at #38 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 18.2% this year, meaning that X is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Olympic Steel is also part of the same industry.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to United States Steel and Olympic Steel as they could maintain their solid performance.
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United States Steel Corporation (X) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Olympic Steel, Inc. (ZEUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
