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 Equinox Gold (EQX) 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.
Equinox Gold is one of 254 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #2 within 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Equinox Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EQX's full-year earnings has moved 7.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, EQX has gained about 27.1% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 24.4%. As we can see, Equinox Gold is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Glencore PLC (GLNCY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 26.8%.
Over the past three months, Glencore PLC's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 24.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Equinox Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 43 individual stocks and currently sits at #53 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 28.1% so far this year, so EQX is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Glencore PLC falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 73 stocks and is ranked #48. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +26.5%.
Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Equinox Gold and Glencore PLC as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Equinox Gold Corp. (EQX): Free Stock Analysis Report Glencore PLC (GLNCY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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