Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging CF Industries (CF) This Year?

The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has CF Industries (CF) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.CF Industries is one of 232 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 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. CF Industries is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CF's full-year earnings has moved 10% 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, CF has moved about 13.1% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 8.5%. This means that CF Industries is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Gold Fields (GFI). The stock has returned 86.9% year-to-date.Over the past three months, Gold Fields' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 47.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).Looking more specifically, CF Industries belongs to the Fertilizers industry, a group that includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 29.8% so far this year, meaning that CF is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. On the other hand, Gold Fields belongs to the Mining - Gold industry. This 39-stock industry is currently ranked #53. The industry has moved +56.6% year to date.Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on CF Industries and Gold Fields as they attempt to continue their solid performance.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF): Free Stock Analysis Report Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX): Free Stock Analysis Report Gold Fields Limited (GFI): Free Stock Analysis Report Shake Shack, Inc. (SHAK): Free Stock Analysis Report Ferrari N.V. (RACE): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks