Which Consumer Staples Performers Are Breaking Away From Sector Weakness?

When examining the Consumer Staples group’s mixed year-to-date results, two stocks stand out for their ability to resist broader sector headwinds. While the Consumer Staples sector—comprising 180 companies in our tracking—has been lagging the broader market with an average decline of roughly 3%, certain players have managed to post gains that defy this trend.

Beyond Meat’s Strong Resilience Amid Industry Challenges

Beyond Meat (BYND) presents an intriguing case study for investors seeking outperformers. The company has captured approximately 8.6% year-to-date gains, significantly outpacing its peer group. What’s driving this relative strength? The narrative is supported by robust estimate revisions: the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BYND’s full-year earnings has surged 77.3% over the past quarter—a substantial upward revision that reflects improved analyst conviction.

BYND currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), positioning it within the top-performing segment of the evaluated universe. Within the broader Consumer Staples group’s 16-sector framework, BYND’s sector currently ranks at #15 in the Zacks Sector Rank, which gauges the average Zacks Rank across individual holdings.

The company operates within the Food - Meat Products industry, a tighter grouping of just 5 stocks presently sitting at #63 in industry rankings. This subsector has faced considerable headwinds, declining 35.6% year-to-date overall. BYND’s ability to deliver positive returns despite this challenging backdrop underscores its relative strength.

Albertsons: A Parallel Success Story with Different Dynamics

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI) offers another perspective on sector resilience. While the stock has gained a more modest 0.5% year-to-date, its position within a much larger industry context—the Consumer Products - Staples group comprising 35 stocks at #213 in rankings—proves noteworthy. This broader industry has retreated 16% year-to-date, making ACI’s flat-to-positive positioning a subtle outperformance.

ACI’s earnings revision picture, while less dramatic than BYND’s, still points toward improving fundamentals: consensus EPS estimates have moved 3% higher over the trailing three-month period. The stock carries a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), matching BYND’s classification.

The Broader Sector Context

The Consumer Staples sector comprises companies across diverse sub-industries, each with its own performance trajectory. The dispersion between lagging and leading performers—exemplified by the contrast between BYND’s +8.6% and sector average -3%—highlights how individual stock selection remains critical even within defensive, traditionally stable sectors.

The Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimate trends and revisions across a 1-to-3 month forward-looking horizon, has identified both BYND and ACI as worthy of attention. This data-driven approach distinguishes between companies benefiting from genuine fundamental improvement versus those merely riding broader market momentum.

Investment Takeaway

For those tracking Consumer Staples exposure, the interplay between sector-wide pressure and individual stock resilience warrants attention. Both Beyond Meat and Albertsons Companies represent examples where disciplined stock selection can identify opportunities even when the broader grouping faces challenges.