Top ranked sporting goods and outdoor activities supplies retailer Academy Sports & Outdoors has been on a marathon run. But it could be getting a bit winded. It's been growing at a fast pace. Still, as the pandemic winds down people are returning to participation sports, camping and other outdoor activities.
Academy Sports Outperforms
Despite strong profit growth right up to last quarter, it took a hit early this year amid the bear market. It's easily outperformed most other stocks though. And on Monday Academy Sports stock climbed to a powerful 91 Relative Strength (RS) Rating, up from 80 the day before.
It's kind of a big deal. Over 100 years of market history reveals that the best stocks tend to have an RS Rating north of 80 as they begin their largest climbs.
Houston area-based Academy Sports & Outdoors posted mildly lower growth for both sales and earnings last quarter, down 8% and 7% respectively. Whether it's about to get a second wind or slow to a walk remains to be seen.
It's in good shape if it's track record is any indication. Academy Sports & Outdoors reported EPS gains of 19%, 61% and 48% the three periods before the last one. And its annual EPS growth rate rose from 12% in fiscal 2020 to 19% in 2021 and then 25% in its most recent fiscal year, according to MarketSmith research.
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Its other key ratings are outstanding. It boasts a 90 EPS Rating, putting it in the top 10% of all companies for recent and long-term profit growth. Academy Sports stock also has a decent 88 Composite Rating. And, bullishly, it carries a B+ Accumulation/Distribution Rating. IBD's A/D rating, on an A+ to E scale, measures the amount of buying of a stock by institutional investors such as ETFs and mutual funds. The B+ rating indicates fairly heavy buying by big money investors.
Academy Sports stock earns the No. 1 rank, leading the 14 companies in the Retail-Leisure Products industry group. Winmark and MarineMax are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
Fresh All-Time High Last November
Academy Sports stock rose to an all-time high 51.08 at the end of November and it's pulled back this year, though not as much as most stocks. Monday afternoon, Academy Sports stock was up fractionally to around 40. It rose above its 50-day line on July 7 and soundly jumped above its 200-day on Friday. While the stock is not near a proper buying range right now, see if it goes on to form and break out of a proper consolidation like a three-weeks-tight formation or a cup pattern.
When you're researching the best stocks to buy and watch, be sure to pay attention to relative price strength. This exclusive rating from Investor's Business Daily measures share price movement with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The rating shows how a stock's price movement over the last 52 weeks stacks up against all the other stocks in our database.
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