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Is Nucor (NUE) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

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The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Nucor (NUE - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Nucor is one of 241 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #5 within 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. Nucor is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NUE's full-year earnings has moved 25.4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, NUE has gained about 31% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 15.6% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Nucor is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Steel Dynamics (STLD - Free Report) . The stock is up 34.7% year-to-date.

For Steel Dynamics, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 32.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Nucor is a member of the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 24 individual companies and currently sits at #26 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 30.4% so far this year, so NUE is performing better in this area. Steel Dynamics is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track Nucor and Steel Dynamics. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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