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Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging Linde PLC (LIN) 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. Linde (LIN - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Linde is one of 240 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #11 in 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 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. Linde is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LIN's full-year earnings has moved 4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, LIN has gained about 5% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 3.4% on average. As we can see, Linde 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 Nucor (NUE - Free Report) . The stock is up 18.5% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Nucor's current year EPS has increased 23.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Linde is a member of the Chemical - Specialty industry, which includes 32 individual companies and currently sits at #202 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1.7% so far this year, meaning that LIN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Nucor, however, belongs to the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this 22-stock industry is ranked #30. The industry has moved +18.8% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Linde and Nucor as they could maintain their solid performance.


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