Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. GDS Holdings (GDS) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.

GDS Holdings is one of 303 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #5 within 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. GDS Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GDS' full-year earnings has moved 17.6% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, GDS has moved about 105.2% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Business Services stocks have gained an average of 26.1%. This means that GDS Holdings is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is NextNav Inc. (NN). The stock has returned 262.7% year-to-date.

In NextNav Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 8.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, GDS Holdings belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 162 individual companies and currently sits at #65 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 55.3% so far this year, meaning that GDS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. NextNav Inc. is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to GDS Holdings and NextNav Inc. as they could maintain their solid performance.

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