Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is American Eagle Outfitters (AEO - 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 Retail-Wholesale sector should help us answer this question.

American Eagle Outfitters is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 218 different companies and currently sits at #8 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 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. American Eagle Outfitters is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEO's full-year earnings has moved 23.7% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, AEO has moved about 21.9% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of 10.7% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that American Eagle Outfitters is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Burlington Stores (BURL - Free Report) . The stock is up 19.4% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Burlington Stores' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Eagle Outfitters belongs to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, a group that includes 42 individual stocks and currently sits at #156 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 19.1% so far this year, meaning that AEO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Burlington Stores falls under the Retail - Discount Stores industry. Currently, this industry has 9 stocks and is ranked #73. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +11%.

Investors with an interest in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to track American Eagle Outfitters and Burlington Stores. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) - free report >>

Burlington Stores, Inc. (BURL) - free report >>

Published in