Is Ralph Lauren (RL) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Discretionary Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Ralph Lauren (RL) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.Ralph Lauren is one of 254 companies in the Consumer Discretionary group. The Consumer Discretionary group currently sits at #9 within 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. Ralph Lauren is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RL's full-year earnings has moved 8.4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.According to our latest data, RL has moved about 33.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of 11.2% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Ralph Lauren is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, Electronic Arts (EA), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 38.1%.The consensus estimate for Electronic Arts' current year EPS has increased 0.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking more specifically, Ralph Lauren belongs to the Textile - Apparel industry, which includes 21 individual stocks and currently sits at #198 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 27.6% so far this year, meaning that RL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. On the other hand, Electronic Arts belongs to the Gaming industry. This 40-stock industry is currently ranked #78. The industry has moved +30.6% year to date.Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track Ralph Lauren and Electronic Arts. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.5% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>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 Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL): Free Stock Analysis Report Electronic Arts Inc. (EA): 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