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Is Amazon.com (AMZN) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) 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? 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.

Amazon is one of 220 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Amazon is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMZN's full-year earnings has moved 11.1% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, AMZN has moved about 23.8% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 6.1%. This means that Amazon is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY - Free Report) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 10.6%.

In O'Reilly Automotive's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Amazon belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry, which includes 40 individual stocks and currently sits at #117 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 11.9% so far this year, meaning that AMZN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, O'Reilly Automotive falls under the Automotive - Retail and Wholesale - Parts industry. Currently, this industry has 5 stocks and is ranked #76. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +6.2%.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Amazon and O'Reilly Automotive as they could maintain their solid performance.


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