For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Air Liquide (AIQUY) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Air Liquide is one of 232 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Air Liquide is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIQUY's full-year earnings has moved 1.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, AIQUY has moved about 26.1% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 8.4%. As we can see, Air Liquide is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NB), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 65.8%.

In NioCorp Developments Ltd.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 29.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Air Liquide belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry, a group that includes 28 individual stocks and currently sits at #225 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 16.5% so far this year, so AIQUY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

NioCorp Developments Ltd., however, belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 58-stock industry is ranked #156. The industry has moved +9.6% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Air Liquide and NioCorp Developments Ltd. as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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