The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL) 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 Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Duolingo, Inc. is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 305 different companies and currently sits at #4 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. Duolingo, Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DUOL's full-year earnings has moved 8.2% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that DUOL has returned about 46.9% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have gained an average of 22%. This means that Duolingo, Inc. is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, AppLovin (APP), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 741.1%.

For AppLovin, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 17.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Duolingo, Inc. belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 162 individual companies and currently sits at #55 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 55.3% so far this year, so DUOL is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns. AppLovin is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Business Services sector may want to keep a close eye on Duolingo, Inc. and AppLovin as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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