The Computer and Technology group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS) 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 Computer and Technology sector should help us answer this question.
Advanced Energy Industries is a member of the Computer and Technology sector. This group includes 602 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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 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. Advanced Energy Industries is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEIS' full-year earnings has moved 10.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that AEIS has returned about 86% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Computer and Technology stocks have gained an average of 25.5%. This shows that Advanced Energy Industries is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Cloudflare (NET) is another Computer and Technology stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 88%.
The consensus estimate for Cloudflare's current year EPS has increased 16.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Advanced Energy Industries is a member of the Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry, which includes 2 individual companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 56.4% so far this year, so AEIS is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Cloudflare falls under the Internet - Software industry. Currently, this industry has 168 stocks and is ranked #55. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +7.5%.
Going forward, investors interested in Computer and Technology stocks should continue to pay close attention to Advanced Energy Industries and Cloudflare as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AEIS): Free Stock Analysis Report Cloudflare, Inc. (NET): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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