Is Union Pacific (UNP) Outperforming Other Transportation Stocks This Year?

The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Union Pacific (UNP) 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 Transportation sector should help us answer this question.Union Pacific is one of 99 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Union Pacific is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNP's full-year earnings has moved 0.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.According to our latest data, UNP has moved about 17.9% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Transportation stocks have gained an average of 15.9%. This means that Union Pacific is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is XPO (XPO). The stock has returned 51.7% year-to-date.The consensus estimate for XPO's current year EPS has increased 8.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking more specifically, Union Pacific belongs to the Transportation - Rail industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #62 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 19.8% this year, meaning that UNP is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. On the other hand, XPO belongs to the Transportation - Truck industry. This 12-stock industry is currently ranked #43. The industry has moved +44.7% year to date.Investors interested in the Transportation sector may want to keep a close eye on Union Pacific and XPO as they attempt to continue their solid performance.Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge GainsQuantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.See Top Quantum 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