Are Business Services Stocks Lagging GDS Holdings (GDS) This Year?

The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. GDS Holdings (GDS) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

GDS Holdings is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 233 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #9. 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 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. GDS Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GDS' full-year earnings has moved 1802.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, GDS has gained about 1% so far this year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 10.1%. This shows that GDS Holdings is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz Sponsored ADR (KSPI), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 18.8%.

Over the past three months, Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz Sponsored ADR's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, GDS Holdings belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 111 individual companies and currently sits at #171 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.9% so far this year, meaning that GDS is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz Sponsored ADR falls under the Financial Transaction Services industry. Currently, this industry has 35 stocks and is ranked #68. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -16.2%.

Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track GDS Holdings and Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz Sponsored ADR. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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

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