For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has AZUL SA (AZUL Quick QuoteAZUL - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

AZUL SA is one of 149 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. AZUL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AZUL's full-year earnings has moved 14.46% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, AZUL has gained about 18.13% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have gained about 11.71% on average. This means that AZUL SA is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Breaking things down more, AZUL is a member of the Transportation - Airline industry, which includes 28 individual companies and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 5.06% this year, meaning that AZUL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Transportation sector will want to keep a close eye on AZUL as it attempts to continue its solid performance.