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Is Carnival (CCL) Outperforming Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks 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. Carnival (CCL - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Carnival is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 272 different companies and currently sits at #6 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Carnival is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CCL's full-year earnings has moved 13.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that CCL has returned about 39.8% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Consumer Discretionary companies have returned an average of 15%. This means that Carnival is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Grand Canyon Education (LOPE - Free Report) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 27.5%.

For Grand Canyon Education, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Carnival is a member of the Leisure and Recreation Services industry, which includes 32 individual companies and currently sits at #20 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 22.9% this year, meaning that CCL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Grand Canyon Education, however, belongs to the Schools industry. Currently, this 17-stock industry is ranked #12. The industry has moved +4.7% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to Carnival and Grand Canyon Education as they could maintain their solid performance.


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