Has IMAX (IMAX) Outpaced Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks This Year?

The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Imax (IMAX) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Imax is one of 261 individual stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Imax is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IMAX's full-year earnings has moved 15.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, IMAX has moved about 45% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Discretionary group have lost about 13.6% on average. As we can see, Imax is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 48.8%.

In Madison Square Garden Entertainment's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 6.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Imax belongs to the Film and Television Production and Distribution industry, a group that includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #21 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.3% so far this year, so IMAX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Madison Square Garden Entertainment falls under the Media Conglomerates industry. Currently, this industry has 22 stocks and is ranked #184. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -12.9%.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to Imax and Madison Square Garden Entertainment as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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