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Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging ArcelorMittal (MT) 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 ArcelorMittal (MT - 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.

ArcelorMittal is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 236 different companies and currently sits at #13 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. ArcelorMittal is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MT's full-year earnings has moved 32.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, MT has moved about 2.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that ArcelorMittal is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Ryerson Holding (RYI - Free Report) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 17.3%.

Over the past three months, Ryerson Holding's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 28.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, ArcelorMittal belongs to the Steel - Producers industry, a group that includes 24 individual stocks and currently sits at #41 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 12.9% so far this year, so MT is slightly underperforming its industry in this area. Ryerson Holding is also part of the same industry.

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


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