The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Daqo New Energy (DQ) 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 Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.
Daqo New Energy is one of 240 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #7 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Daqo New Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DQ's full-year earnings has moved 24.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
According to our latest data, DQ has moved about 64.4% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 18.9% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Daqo New Energy is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Orla Mining Ltd. (ORLA) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 84.3%.
In Orla Mining Ltd.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 9.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Daqo New Energy belongs to the Chemical - Specialty industry, a group that includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #160 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 3.6% this year, meaning that DQ is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Orla Mining Ltd. falls under the Mining - Gold industry. Currently, this industry has 41 stocks and is ranked #16. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +105.4%.
Daqo New Energy and Orla Mining Ltd. 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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DAQO New Energy Corp. (DQ): Free Stock Analysis Report Orla Mining Ltd. (ORLA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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