For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Amazon (AMZN) 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.

Amazon is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 212 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #9. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMZN's full-year earnings has moved 8.8% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, AMZN has gained about 49.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have gained about 34.6% on average. As we can see, Amazon is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Kura Sushi (KRUS) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 40.5%.

The consensus estimate for Kura Sushi's current year EPS has increased 125.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Amazon belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry, a group that includes 38 individual companies and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 44.5% so far this year, so AMZN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Kura Sushi falls under the Retail - Restaurants industry. Currently, this industry has 42 stocks and is ranked #134. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +10.9%.

Amazon and Kura Sushi could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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