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Is United States Steel (X) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers 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. United States Steel (X - 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 X and the rest of the Basic Materials group's stocks.

United States Steel is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 245 different companies and currently sits at #4 in 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 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. X is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for X's full-year earnings has moved 102.97% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, X has returned 39.30% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 19.23% on a year-to-date basis. This means that United States Steel is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, X belongs to the Steel - Producers industry, a group that includes 24 individual stocks and currently sits at #9 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 44.37% this year, meaning that X is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

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


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