Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Monster Beverage (MNST) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.Monster Beverage is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 173 different companies and currently sits at #7 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. MNST is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MNST's full-year earnings has moved 9.51% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.Based on the latest available data, MNST has gained about 32.13% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of -4.50% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Monster Beverage is outperforming its peers so far this year.Looking more specifically, MNST belongs to the Beverages - Soft drinks industry, a group that includes 17 individual stocks and currently sits at #187 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 5.77% so far this year, so MNST is performing better in this area.Investors in the Consumer Staples sector will want to keep a close eye on MNST as it attempts to continue its solid performance.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 Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.