The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Brinker International (EAT) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Retail-Wholesale peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Brinker International is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 212 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Brinker International is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EAT's full-year earnings has moved 1.7% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, EAT has gained about 117% so far this year. At the same time, Retail-Wholesale stocks have gained an average of 21.5%. As we can see, Brinker International is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Next PLC (NXGPY). The stock has returned 29.5% year-to-date.

In Next PLC's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 6.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Brinker International belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry, a group that includes 42 individual companies and currently sits at #92 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 8.6% so far this year, so EAT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Next PLC, however, belongs to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry. Currently, this 41-stock industry is ranked #56. The industry has moved +11% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Brinker International and Next PLC as they could maintain their solid performance.

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