Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of DAQO New Energy (DQ), but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.DAQO New Energy is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 251 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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 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. DQ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DQ's full-year earnings has moved 81.33% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.According to our latest data, DQ has moved about 20% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 18.90%. This shows that DAQO New Energy is outperforming its peers so far this year.Breaking things down more, DQ is a member of the Chemical - Specialty industry, which includes 39 individual companies and currently sits at #116 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 2.66% this year, meaning that DQ is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to DQ as it looks to continue its solid performance. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 77 billion devices by 2025, creating a $1.3 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 4 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2022.Click here for the 4 trades >>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 DAQO New Energy Corp. (DQ): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.