The Computer and Technology group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Cree one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Computer and Technology sector should help us answer this question.

Cree is one of 642 companies in the Computer and Technology group. The Computer and Technology group currently sits at #8 within 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. CREE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CREE's full-year earnings has moved 14.29% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that CREE has returned about 32.06% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Computer and Technology companies have returned an average of 16.16%. This means that Cree is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Breaking things down more, CREE is a member of the Semiconductor - Discretes industry, which includes 3 individual companies and currently sits at #104 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 21.16% so far this year, so CREE is performing better in this area.

Investors in the Computer and Technology sector will want to keep a close eye on CREE as it attempts to continue its solid performance.