For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of AEO and the rest of the Retail-Wholesale group's stocks.

American Eagle Outfitters is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 211 different companies and currently sits at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. AEO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEO's full-year earnings has moved 6.48% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, AEO has gained about 75.54% so far this year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 0.05%. This shows that American Eagle Outfitters is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, AEO belongs to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, a group that includes 36 individual companies and currently sits at #20 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 26.93% so far this year, so AEO is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

AEO will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.

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