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Are Retail-Wholesale Stocks Lagging Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) This Year?

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Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF - 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? 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.

Abercrombie & Fitch is one of 221 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 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 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. Abercrombie & Fitch is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ANF's full-year earnings has moved 13.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, ANF has returned 217.8% so far this year. At the same time, Retail-Wholesale stocks have gained an average of 19.9%. This shows that Abercrombie & Fitch is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Wayfair (W - Free Report) . The stock has returned 48.6% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Wayfair's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Abercrombie & Fitch is a member of the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, which includes 43 individual companies and currently sits at #160 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 9.3% this year, meaning that ANF is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Wayfair falls under the Internet - Commerce industry. Currently, this industry has 42 stocks and is ranked #50. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +47.2%.

Investors with an interest in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to track Abercrombie & Fitch and Wayfair. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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