Costco (COST) ended the recent trading session at $919.31, demonstrating a +1.61% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.48%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.29%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.56%.
The stock of warehouse club operator has fallen by 5.86% in the past month, leading the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 7.24% and undershooting the S&P 500's loss of 0.82%.
The upcoming earnings release of Costco will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on September 24, 2026. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $6.48, signifying a 10.39% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $94.78 billion, up 10.01% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $20.42 per share and a revenue of $302.25 billion, demonstrating changes of +13.51% and +9.81%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Costco. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.1% lower. Currently, Costco is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Costco currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 40.23. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 18.9 for its industry.
Investors should also note that COST has a PEG ratio of 3.77 right now. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.8.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 30, placing it within the top 13% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).