Are Consumer Staples Stocks Lagging Ambev (ABEV) This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Ambev (ABEV) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.Ambev is one of 173 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #15 within 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. Ambev is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABEV's full-year earnings has moved 11.7% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.Based on the latest available data, ABEV has gained about 26.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 8.2% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Ambev is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Chefs' Warehouse (CHEF). The stock has returned 53.4% year-to-date.For Chefs' Warehouse, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).Looking more specifically, Ambev belongs to the Beverages - Alcohol industry, a group that includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #175 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 17.7% this year, meaning that ABEV is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. In contrast, Chefs' Warehouse falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 40 stocks and is ranked #196. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -3.3%.Ambev and Chefs' Warehouse could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks