The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Intrepid Potash (IPI) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Intrepid Potash is one of 232 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 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. Intrepid Potash is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IPI's full-year earnings has moved 64.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, IPI has moved about 32.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 6.7% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Intrepid Potash is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

US Gold Corp (USAU) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 69%.

For US Gold Corp, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Intrepid Potash belongs to the Fertilizers industry, a group that includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #34 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 7.4% so far this year, so IPI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, US Gold Corp belongs to the Mining - Gold industry. This 41-stock industry is currently ranked #140. The industry has moved +31.9% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track Intrepid Potash and US Gold Corp. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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

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