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Are Retail-Wholesale Stocks Lagging The Gap (GPS) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Gap (GPS - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Gap is one of 215 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GPS' full-year earnings has moved 21.6% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that GPS has returned about 27.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of 9.1% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Gap is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Fastenal (FAST - Free Report) . The stock has returned 17.8% year-to-date.

In Fastenal's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Gap is a member of the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, which includes 42 individual companies and currently sits at #161 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 16.2% this year, meaning that GPS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Fastenal, however, belongs to the Building Products - Retail industry. Currently, this 8-stock industry is ranked #66. The industry has moved +7.6% so far this year.

Gap and Fastenal could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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