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Has Costco (COST) Outpaced Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks 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 Costco (COST - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Costco is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 220 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for COST's full-year earnings has moved 8.6% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that COST has returned about 47.9% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Retail-Wholesale stocks have lost an average of 7.8%. This means that Costco is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Lovesac (LOVE - 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 75.5%.

For Lovesac, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 39.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Costco belongs to the Retail - Discount Stores industry, a group that includes 8 individual stocks and currently sits at #69 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 26.7% so far this year, so COST is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Lovesac, however, belongs to the Retail - Home Furnishings industry. Currently, this 9-stock industry is ranked #27. The industry has moved +47% so far this year.

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


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