Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Arconic been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Arconic is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 248 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. ARNC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ARNC's full-year earnings has moved 13.44% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that ARNC has returned about 54.80% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 13.82% on average. This means that Arconic is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, ARNC belongs to the Mining - Non Ferrous industry, which includes 11 individual stocks and currently sits at #102 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 24.40% this year, meaning that ARNC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

ARNC will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.