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Is American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) Outperforming Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

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The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is American Eagle Outfitters (AEO - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

American Eagle Outfitters is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 227 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #9. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. American Eagle Outfitters is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEO's full-year earnings has moved 25.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, AEO has returned 3.5% so far this year. At the same time, Retail-Wholesale stocks have lost an average of 27.1%. This means that American Eagle Outfitters is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Build-A-Bear (BBW - Free Report) . The stock has returned 2.8% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Build-A-Bear's current year EPS has increased 4.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Eagle Outfitters belongs to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, a group that includes 45 individual stocks and currently sits at #150 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 40% this year, meaning that AEO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Build-A-Bear, however, belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 20-stock industry is ranked #45. The industry has moved -13.1% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to American Eagle Outfitters and Build-A-Bear as they could maintain their solid performance.


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American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) - free report >>

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