The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Olympic Steel (ZEUS) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.Olympic Steel is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 251 different companies and currently sits at #3 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. ZEUS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ZEUS's full-year earnings has moved 80.03% 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 ZEUS has returned about 118.08% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 13.57% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Olympic Steel is outperforming its peers so far this year.Breaking things down more, ZEUS is a member of the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 24 individual companies and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 55.69% so far this year, so ZEUS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to ZEUS as it looks to continue its solid performance. Zacks' Top Picks to Cash in on Artificial Intelligence In 2021, this world-changing technology is projected to generate $327.5 billion in revenue. Now Shark Tank star and billionaire investor Mark Cuban says AI will create "the world's first trillionaires." Zacks' urgent special report reveals 3 AI picks investors need to know about today.See 3 Artificial Intelligence Stocks With Extreme Upside Potential>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Olympic Steel, Inc. (ZEUS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research