the energy sector has been one bright spot in the dismal market action this week the s  p 500 energy sector has rallied more than 5 week to date making it the only positive sector for the week meanwhile the broader index was slammed friday after federal reserve chair jerome powell said the central bank will continue to raise interest rates to combat inflation and warned of more pain ahead the s  p 500 is on track for a 28 decline this week higher oil prices helped propel the stocks higher west texas intermediate crude is up 17 this week energy stocks are also a good way to protect your portfolio from inflation according to jerry castellini president of castleark management they will have the greatest upside in the event of some continuation of inflation but also give you some downside protection in the event that there is a market that really craves yield he said in an interview on cnbcs  power lunch  thursday what follows are the energy companies that outperformed this week and where analysts stand on the stocks to find these names cnbc pro looked for stocks in the space that had the best weektodate performance apa corp was the biggest winner in the sector jumping almost 11 week to date it still has another 33 upside according to the median analyst price target just 44 of the analysts covering the stock rate it a buy marathon oil followed seeing a 68 increase in its stock so far this week based on the average median price target it still has 233 upside some 462 of analysts covering the stock believe it is a buy analyst favorite baker hughes rose 34 so far this week and has another 357 upside according to the median analyst price target most analysts who cover the stock 72 rate it a buy earlier this week stifel analysts said they viewed carbon capture technologies incentives from the inflation reduction act as positive for baker hughes which is developing the technologies devon energy and diamondback energy also have more than 70 of the analysts covering the stock rating it a buy devon energy jumped 67 so far this week while diamondback gained 3 earlier this month devon energys earnings beat expectations  the company reported total revenue of 563 billion for the fiscal second quarter compared to expectations of 421 billion pioneer natural resources is up 62 for the week and has another 114 upside according to the median analyst price target half of the analysts covering the stock give it a buy rating the companys ceo recently told cnbcs jim cramer the oil company plans to continue returning most of its cash flow to shareholders the growth days of the industry are over he said —cnbcs michael bloom contributed to this report