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Is Nucor (NUE) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Nucor (NUE - Free Report) 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of NUE and the rest of the Basic Materials group's stocks.

Nucor is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 250 different companies and currently sits at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. NUE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NUE's full-year earnings has moved 39.77% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, NUE has returned 106.47% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 7.94% on average. This means that Nucor is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

To break things down more, NUE belongs to the Steel - Producers industry, a group that includes 24 individual companies and currently sits at #19 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 48.87% so far this year, so NUE is performing better in this area.

Investors in the Basic Materials sector will want to keep a close eye on NUE as it attempts to continue its solid performance.


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