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 Amazon (AMZN) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Retail-Wholesale peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Amazon is one of 212 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 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. Amazon is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMZN's full-year earnings has moved 1.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that AMZN has returned about 8.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of 7.5% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Amazon is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Brinker International (EAT). The stock has returned 37.6% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Brinker International's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 50.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Amazon belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry, a group that includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 9.7% so far this year, so AMZN is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Brinker International belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry. This 39-stock industry is currently ranked #30. The industry has moved +3.5% year to date.

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

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