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Has CalMaine Foods (CALM) Outpaced Other Basic Materials Stocks 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. Is Cal-Maine Foods (CALM - 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.

Cal-Maine Foods is one of 239 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Cal-Maine Foods is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CALM's full-year earnings has moved 346.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that CALM has returned about 42.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of -6.7% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Cal-Maine Foods 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 Piedmont Lithium Inc. (PLL - Free Report) . The stock is up 15.5% year-to-date.

For Piedmont Lithium Inc. the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 17.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Cal-Maine Foods belongs to the Agriculture - Products industry, a group that includes 7 individual companies and currently sits at #147 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 1.5% this year, meaning that CALM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Piedmont Lithium Inc. however, belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 46-stock industry is ranked #207. The industry has moved -5.5% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Cal-Maine Foods and Piedmont Lithium Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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