The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Marqeta (MQ) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Business Services sector should help us answer this question.
Marqeta is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 270 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
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. Marqeta is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MQ's full-year earnings has moved 27.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, MQ has gained about 39.1% so far this year. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of 3.4%. This means that Marqeta is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is AppLovin (APP). The stock has returned 20.5% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, AppLovin's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 22.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, Marqeta belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry, a group that includes 35 individual companies and currently sits at #59 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 5.3% so far this year, so MQ is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, AppLovin belongs to the Technology Services industry. This 129-stock industry is currently ranked #50. The industry has moved +5.8% year to date.
Marqeta and AppLovin could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Marqeta, Inc. (MQ): Free Stock Analysis Report AppLovin Corporation (APP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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