For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Booking Holdings (BKNG) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Booking Holdings is one of 212 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Booking Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BKNG's full-year earnings has moved 2.6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that BKNG has returned about 42.3% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 29.8%. This means that Booking Holdings is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is BARK Inc. (BARK). The stock is up 145.8% year-to-date.

In BARK Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 10% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Booking Holdings is a member of the Internet - Commerce industry, which includes 38 individual companies and currently sits at #80 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 41.7% so far this year, meaning that BKNG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, BARK Inc. belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry. This 18-stock industry is currently ranked #178. The industry has moved -17.1% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Booking Holdings and BARK Inc. as they could maintain 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

Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

BARK Inc. (BARK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research