For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. BARK Inc. (BARK) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Retail-Wholesale sector should help us answer this question.

BARK Inc. is one of 210 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. BARK Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BARK's full-year earnings has moved 10% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, BARK has returned 96.2% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have gained about 25.2% on average. This shows that BARK Inc. is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, Booking Holdings (BKNG), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 40.3%.

In Booking Holdings' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, BARK Inc. belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 17 individual companies and currently sits at #133 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 8.9% so far this year, so BARK is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Booking Holdings belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry. This 39-stock industry is currently ranked #55. The industry has moved +32.7% year to date.

Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on BARK Inc. and Booking Holdings as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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