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Is Exponent (EXPO) Stock Outpacing Its Business Services Peers This Year?

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The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Exponent (EXPO - 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.

Exponent is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 244 different companies and currently sits at #6 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. Exponent is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EXPO's full-year earnings has moved 1.1% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, EXPO has moved about 3.4% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 10.3%. This means that Exponent is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, NTT (NTTYY - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 9.8%.

The consensus estimate for NTT's current year EPS has increased 9.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Exponent belongs to the Consulting Services industry, a group that includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #66 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 19.3% so far this year, so EXPO is performing better in this area.

NTT, however, belongs to the Technology Services industry. Currently, this 123-stock industry is ranked #85. The industry has moved -21.5% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Exponent and NTT as they could maintain their solid performance.

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