For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is DRDGOLD (DRD) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.
DRDGOLD is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 238 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #13. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
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. DRDGOLD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DRD's full-year earnings has moved 80% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the most recent data, DRD has returned 106.1% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 17.1%. This means that DRDGOLD is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
MP Materials Corp. (MP) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 363.5%.
For MP Materials Corp., the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 31.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, DRDGOLD is a member of the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual companies and currently sits at #88 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 78.8% so far this year, so DRD is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, MP Materials Corp. falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 64 stocks and is ranked #157. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +19.1%.
DRDGOLD and MP Materials Corp. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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DRDGOLD Limited (DRD): Free Stock Analysis Report MP Materials Corp. (MP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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