Investors focused on the Retail-Wholesale space have likely heard of Starbucks (SBUX Quick QuoteSBUX - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.

Starbucks is one of 220 companies in the Retail-Wholesale group. The Retail-Wholesale group currently sits at #2 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 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. SBUX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SBUX's full-year earnings has moved 4.18% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, SBUX has returned 5.55% so far this year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of -8.99%. This shows that Starbucks is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, SBUX belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry, a group that includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #166 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 13.96% so far this year, so SBUX is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Retail-Wholesale sector will want to keep a close eye on SBUX as it attempts to continue its solid performance.