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Are Retail-Wholesale Stocks Lagging Costco Wholesale (COST) 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. Costco (COST - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Costco is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 221 different companies and currently sits at #4 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 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. Costco is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COST's full-year earnings has moved 2.2% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that COST has returned about 21.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have gained about 11.8% on average. This shows that Costco is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Shake Shack (SHAK - Free Report) . The stock has returned 34.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Shake Shack's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 51.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Costco belongs to the Retail - Discount Stores industry, which includes 8 individual stocks and currently sits at #95 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 0.1% this year, meaning that COST is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Shake Shack, however, belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry. Currently, this 42-stock industry is ranked #78. The industry has moved -0.3% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on Costco and Shake Shack as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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