Is Monster Beverage (MNST) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Staples Peers This Year?

Group 1 - Monster Beverage (MNST) is currently outperforming its peers in the Consumer Staples sector, with a year-to-date return of 42.7% compared to the sector average of 0.6% [4] - The Zacks Rank for Monster Beverage is 1 (Strong Buy), indicating strong analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook, with the consensus estimate for full-year earnings having increased by 4.1% in the past quarter [3] - The Beverages - Soft drinks industry, which includes Monster Beverage, has an average year-to-date gain of 8.8%, further highlighting MNST's superior performance [5] Group 2 - United Natural Foods (UNFI) is another stock in the Consumer Staples sector that has shown strong performance, with a year-to-date increase of 36.6% and a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) [4][5] - The consensus EPS estimate for United Natural Foods has risen by 23% over the past three months, indicating improving analyst sentiment [5] - The Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes United Natural Foods, has experienced a decline of -12.6% since the beginning of the year, contrasting with the performance of Monster Beverage [6]