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Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging Activision Blizzard (ATVI) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Activision Blizzard, Inc 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Activision Blizzard, Inc is one of 283 companies in the Consumer Discretionary group. The Consumer Discretionary group currently sits at #11 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Activision Blizzard, Inc is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATVI's full-year earnings has moved 3.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, ATVI has returned 0.6% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have lost an average of 29.9%. This shows that Activision Blizzard, Inc is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Royal Caribbean (RCL - Free Report) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 19.8%.

The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean's current year EPS has increased 25.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Activision Blizzard, Inc belongs to the Toys - Games - Hobbies industry, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #221 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 4% so far this year, meaning that ATVI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Royal Caribbean falls under the Leisure and Recreation Services industry. Currently, this industry has 32 stocks and is ranked #77. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -33%.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to Activision Blizzard, Inc and Royal Caribbean as they could maintain their solid performance.


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