For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. eBay (EBAY) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

eBay is one of 210 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #10 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. eBay is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EBAY's full-year earnings has moved 1.1% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, EBAY has gained about 0.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of -7.8% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, eBay is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Sprouts Farmers (SFM) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 21.1%.

The consensus estimate for Sprouts Farmers' current year EPS has increased 10.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, eBay belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry, which includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #43 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 11.8% this year, meaning that EBAY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Sprouts Farmers, however, belongs to the Food - Natural Foods Products industry. Currently, this 6-stock industry is ranked #89. The industry has moved +4.6% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on eBay and Sprouts Farmers as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

eBay Inc. (EBAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (SFM) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

Zacks Investment Research