Over the years, Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) has been viewed as one of the safest retail plays during periods of economic stress, drawing loyal consumers with its bulk discounts, membership model, and reputation for value. But in today’s inflationary environment, another factor has quietly become a powerful traffic driver for the warehouse giant: gasoline. As fuel prices remain elevated, Costco’s low-priced gas stations have helped attract more shoppers to its warehouses, boosting both foot traffic and high-margin discretionary spending.
Fuel prices are surging across the United States, with the national average climbing above $4.50 per gallon, while some states are seeing prices top $6, and Costco is generally $0.10 to $0.25 cheaper per gallon than local and national averages.
More Top Stocks Daily: Go behind Wall Street’s hottest headlines with Barchart’s Active Investor newsletter.
That resilience appears to be catching the attention of prominent investors, including President Donald Trump. A recent financial disclosure filing shows Trump invested as much as $5 million in Costco during the first quarter. Should you follow suit at current prices?
About Costco Stock
Costco is one of the world’s largest membership-based warehouse retailers, operating hundreds of bulk-discount stores across the U.S. and international markets. The company is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, and is known for its low-price strategy, strong customer loyalty, and high-margin membership fee model. Costco sells a wide range of products, including groceries, fuel, electronics, household goods, and private-label Kirkland Signature merchandise. The company has a market cap of $456.2 billion, making it one of the most valuable retail companies globally.
Shares of Costco have continued to show resilience in 2026 as investors reward the company’s defensive retail model, strong membership growth, and increasing customer traffic tied to elevated gasoline prices. Costco stock is up 16.2% year-to-date (YTD), outperforming many large-cap retail peers despite broader market volatility. Over the past 52 weeks, however, the shares have posted a marginal loss of 0.63%.
Momentum accelerated in May, with Costco shares climbing to a record high of $1,096.50 on May 19 as investors responded positively to strong sales trends and continued consumer demand.
www.barchart.com The stock is trading at a premium compared to industry peers at 50.59 times forward earnings.
Steady Financial Performance
Costco released its fiscal second-quarter 2026 results on March 5, reporting another quarter of strong sales momentum driven by resilient consumer demand, membership growth, and higher warehouse traffic. For the 12 weeks ended Feb. 15, 2026, net sales rose 9.1% year-over-year (YOY) to $68.24 billion, up from $62.5 billion in the prior-year quarter. Net income increased 13.8% to around $2 billion, while earnings per share (EPS) climbed to $4.58 from $4.02 a year earlier. Operating income rose to $2.6 billion from $2.3 billion last year.
Comparable sales growth remained robust across geographies. U.S. comparable sales increased 5.9% YOY, Canada comps rose 10.1%, and other international markets grew 13%. Companywide comparable sales increased 7.4%. Digitally enabled comparable sales surged 22.6%, highlighting continued strength in e-commerce demand.
For the first 24 weeks of fiscal 2026, Costco continued to deliver steady growth. Net sales increased 8.7% YOY to $134.2 billion, while net income rose 12.5% to over $4 billion. Its EPS increased to $9.08 from $8.06 in the prior-year period. Total company comparable sales for the period rose 6.9%, while digitally enabled comparable sales jumped 21.6%.
Costco also reported strong monthly sales trends in April. Costco net sales rose 13% YOY to $23.9 billion for the four weeks ended May 3. For the first 35 weeks of fiscal 2026, total net sales increased 9.5% to $197.2 billion, reflecting continued strength.
Analysts tracking Costco project the company’s EPS to climb 13% YOY to $20.33 in fiscal 2026 and grow another 10.2% to $22.40 in fiscal 2027.
What Do Analysts Expect for Costco Stock?
Recently, UBS raised its price target on Costco to $1,275 from $1,205 while maintaining a “Buy” rating, citing confidence that the retailer’s upcoming third-quarter results will reinforce the bullish case for the stock.
Also, this month, Oppenheimer raised its price target on Costco to $1,160 from $1,100 while maintaining an “Outperform” rating.
Overall, COST has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. Of the 34 analysts covering the stock, 19 advise a “Strong Buy,” three suggest a “Moderate Buy,” 11 give it a “Hold” rating, and one offers a “Strong Sell” rating.
The average analyst price target for COST is $1,093.90, indicating a potential upside of 9.6%. Also, the Street-high target price of $1,315 suggests that the stock could rally as much as 31.8%.
www.barchart.com 
www.barchart.com On the date of publication, Subhasree Kar did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.