The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Alibaba (BABA) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Retail-Wholesale sector should help us answer this question.
Alibaba is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 210 different companies and currently sits at #10 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 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. Alibaba is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BABA's full-year earnings has moved 9.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, BABA has gained about 28.4% so far this year. At the same time, Retail-Wholesale stocks have lost an average of 8.1%. As we can see, Alibaba is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Marks and Spencer Group PLC (MAKSY). The stock has returned 20.3% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Marks and Spencer Group PLC's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Alibaba is a member of the Internet - Commerce industry, which includes 37 individual companies and currently sits at #47 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 13.6% so far this year, meaning that BABA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Marks and Spencer Group PLC belongs to the Retail - Supermarkets industry. This 9-stock industry is currently ranked #65. The industry has moved +4% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Alibaba and Marks and Spencer Group PLC as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA): Free Stock Analysis Report Marks and Spencer Group PLC (MAKSY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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