For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Alcoa (AA) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.Alcoa is one of 223 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #5 within 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 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. AA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AA's full-year earnings has moved 45.02% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.Our latest available data shows that AA has returned about 62.43% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of 14.89%. This means that Alcoa is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.To break things down more, AA belongs to the Metal Products - Distribution industry, a group that includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #6 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 34.96% so far this year, so AA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.Investors with an interest in Industrial Products stocks should continue to track AA. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>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 Alcoa Corp. (AA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research