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For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is AppLovin (APP) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
AppLovin is one of 289 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 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 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. AppLovin is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APP's full-year earnings has moved 16.5% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that APP has returned about 4.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have gained about 1.9% on average. This means that AppLovin is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (PAGS) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 32.4%.
Over the past three months, PagSeguro Digital Ltd.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, AppLovin is a member of the Technology Services industry, which includes 151 individual companies and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 0% so far this year, so APP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, PagSeguro Digital Ltd. falls under the Financial Transaction Services industry. Currently, this industry has 36 stocks and is ranked #137. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +3.8%.
Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to AppLovin and PagSeguro Digital Ltd. as they could maintain their solid performance.
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