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Are Retail-Wholesale Stocks Lagging The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) This Year?

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The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Cheesecake Factory (CAKE - Free Report) 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.

Cheesecake Factory is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 190 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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. Cheesecake Factory is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAKE's full-year earnings has moved 13% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, CAKE has gained about 112.4% so far this year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of -0.3%. This means that Cheesecake Factory is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Itochu Corp. (ITOCY - Free Report) . The stock is up 17% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Itochu Corp.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Cheesecake Factory belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry, a group that includes 36 individual companies and currently sits at #164 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 5.9% this year, meaning that CAKE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Itochu Corp., however, belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 14-stock industry is ranked #103. The industry has moved -15.3% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on Cheesecake Factory and Itochu Corp. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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