A strong stock as of late has been Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. (LTH). Shares have been marching higher, with the stock up 28.6% over the past month. The stock hit a new 52-week high of $41.96 in the previous session. Life Time Group Holdings has gained 57.8% since the start of the year compared to the -8% gain for the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector and the -6.8% return for the Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry.
What's Driving the Outperformance?
The stock has a great record of positive earnings surprises, having beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. In its last earnings report on May 5, 2026, Life Time Group Holdings reported EPS of $0.42 versus consensus estimate of $0.39 while it beat the consensus revenue estimate by 0.09%.
For the current fiscal year, Life Time Group Holdings is expected to post earnings of $1.67 per share on $3.33 in revenues. This represents a 15.97% change in EPS on a 11.19% change in revenues. For the next fiscal year, the company is expected to earn $1.9 per share on $3.71 in revenues. This represents a year-over-year change of 14.12% and 11.53%, respectively.
Valuation Metrics
Though Life Time Group Holdings has recently hit a 52-week high, what is next for Life Time Group Holdings? A key aspect of this question is taking a look at valuation metrics in order to determine if the company is due for a pullback from this level.
On this front, we can look at the Zacks Style Scores, as these give investors a variety of ways to comb through stocks (beyond looking at the Zacks Rank of a security). The individual style scores for Value, Growth, Momentum and the combined VGM Score run from A through F. The idea behind the style scores is to help investors pick the most appropriate Zacks Rank stocks based on their individual investment style.
Life Time Group Holdings has a Value Score of B. The stock's Growth and Momentum Scores are B and D, respectively, giving the company a VGM Score of B.
In terms of its value breakdown, the stock currently trades at 25.2X current fiscal year EPS estimates, which is a premium to the peer industry average of 16.3X. On a trailing cash flow basis, the stock currently trades at 15.8X versus its peer group's average of 9.1X. Additionally, the stock has a PEG ratio of 1.54. This isn't enough to put the company in the top echelon of all stocks we cover from a value perspective.
Zacks Rank
We also need to consider the stock's Zacks Rank, as this is even more important than the company's VGM Score. Fortunately, Life Time Group Holdings currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) thanks to favorable earnings estimate revisions from covering analysts.
Since we recommend that investors select stocks carrying Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) and Style Scores of A or B, it looks as if Life Time Group Holdings fits the bill. Thus, it seems as though Life Time Group Holdings shares could have a bit more room to run in the near term.
How Does LTH Stack Up to the Competition?
Shares of LTH have been soaring, and the company still appears to be a decent choice, but what about the rest of the industry? One industry peer that looks good is Marcus Corporation (The) (MCS). MCS has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value Score of B, a Growth Score of A, and a Momentum Score of B.
Earnings were strong last quarter. Marcus Corporation (The) beat our consensus estimate by 5.56%, and for the current fiscal year, MCS is expected to post earnings of $0.49 per share on revenue of $802.03 million.
Shares of Marcus Corporation (The) have gained 6.5% over the past month, and currently trade at a forward P/E of 44.47X and a P/CF of 9.27X.
The Leisure and Recreation Services industry may rank in the bottom 75% of all the industries we have in our universe, but there still looks like there are some nice tailwinds for LTH and MCS, even beyond their own solid fundamental situation.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).