Are Finance Stocks Lagging Axa (AXAHY) This Year?

The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Axa Sa (AXAHY) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Finance sector should help us answer this question.Axa Sa is a member of our Finance group, which includes 857 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 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. Axa Sa is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AXAHY's full-year earnings has moved 5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.According to our latest data, AXAHY has moved about 32% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 5.8%. This means that Axa Sa is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Another stock in the Finance sector, Bridgewater (BWB), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 14.8%.For Bridgewater, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 11.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).To break things down more, Axa Sa belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry, a group that includes 41 individual companies and currently sits at #80 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.7% so far this year, so AXAHY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.Bridgewater, however, belongs to the Banks - Northeast industry. Currently, this 73-stock industry is ranked #53. The industry has moved -4.1% so far this year.Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Axa Sa and Bridgewater 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 Axa Sa (AXAHY): Free Stock Analysis Report Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. (BWB): 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