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Are Retail-Wholesale Stocks Lagging Booking Holdings (BKNG) 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. Booking Holdings (BKNG - 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? 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.

Booking Holdings is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 221 different companies and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Booking Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BKNG's full-year earnings has moved 4.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, BKNG has returned 49.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of 17.2% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Booking Holdings is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, MercadoLibre (MELI - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 61.6%.

The consensus estimate for MercadoLibre's current year EPS has increased 13.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Booking Holdings belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry, a group that includes 42 individual stocks and currently sits at #64 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 43.4% so far this year, so BKNG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. MercadoLibre is also part of the same industry.

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


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MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) - free report >>

Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) - free report >>

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