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 Sprouts Farmers (SFM) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Sprouts Farmers is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 212 different companies and currently sits at #4 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 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. Sprouts Farmers is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SFM's full-year earnings has moved 0.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, SFM has moved about 39.4% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 9.2%. This means that Sprouts Farmers is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Wayfair (W). The stock has returned 11.5% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Wayfair's current year EPS has increased 4.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Sprouts Farmers is a member of the Food - Natural Foods Products industry, which includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #50 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 20.6% so far this year, so SFM is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Wayfair, however, belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry. Currently, this 37-stock industry is ranked #83. The industry has moved +10.3% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to track Sprouts Farmers and Wayfair. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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