Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Home Depot (HD) Outperforming Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Home Depot (HD - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Home Depot is one of 220 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. Home Depot is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HD's full-year earnings has moved 7.1% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, HD has moved about 53.5% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have lost about 7.1% on average. This means that Home Depot is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

McDonald's (MCD - Free Report) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 23.3%.

The consensus estimate for McDonald's' current year EPS has increased 4.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Home Depot belongs to the Building Products - Retail industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 51.5% this year, meaning that HD is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

McDonald's, however, belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry. Currently, this 41-stock industry is ranked #236. The industry has moved +12.7% so far this year.

Home Depot and McDonald's could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


McDonald's Corporation (MCD) - free report >>

The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) - free report >>

Published in