For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Barnes & Noble Education (BNED) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.
Barnes & Noble Education is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 259 different companies and currently sits 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 is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Barnes & Noble Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BNED's full-year earnings has moved 11.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
According to our latest data, BNED has moved about 36.2% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of -13.5% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Barnes & Noble Education is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Motorsport Games Inc. (MSGM) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 68.1%.
In Motorsport Games Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 30.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Barnes & Noble Education belongs to the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry, which includes 28 individual stocks and currently sits at #190 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 9% this year, meaning that BNED is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Motorsport Games Inc. belongs to the Gaming industry. This 42-stock industry is currently ranked #156. The industry has moved -34.3% year to date.
Investors interested in the Consumer Discretionary sector may want to keep a close eye on Barnes & Noble Education and Motorsport Games Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Barnes & Noble Education, Inc (BNED): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).