Is United States Steel (X) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?
Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of United States Steel (X), but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.
United States Steel is one of 245 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #7 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. X is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for X's full-year earnings has moved 359.22% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, X has gained about 71.79% so far this year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 28.36%. This means that United States Steel is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Looking more specifically, X belongs to the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 24 individual stocks and currently sits at #26 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 60.55% so far this year, meaning that X is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
X will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.
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