Are Business Services Stocks Lagging Agora (API) This Year?

Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR (API) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 238 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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 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. Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for API's full-year earnings has moved 54.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, API has returned 10.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -11.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, Skillsoft Corp. (SKIL), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 4.1%.

In Skillsoft Corp.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 70.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 110 individual companies and currently sits at #164 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 17.1% so far this year, meaning that API is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Skillsoft Corp. is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR and Skillsoft Corp. 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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