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Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) This Year?

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The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Royal Caribbean (RCL - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Royal Caribbean is one of 270 individual stocks in the Consumer Discretionary 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 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. Royal Caribbean is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCL's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, RCL has returned 56% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have gained an average of 6.1%. As we can see, Royal Caribbean is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Ralph Lauren (RL - Free Report) . The stock is up 37.1% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Ralph Lauren's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Royal Caribbean is a member of the Leisure and Recreation Services industry, which includes 31 individual companies and currently sits at #89 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 12.2% so far this year, meaning that RCL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Ralph Lauren falls under the Textile - Apparel industry. Currently, this industry has 20 stocks and is ranked #95. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -16.2%.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track Royal Caribbean and Ralph Lauren. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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