Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) were last seen down 3.9% to trade at $906.42, after the retailer posted unfavorable same-store sales in its fourth quarter report. Helping to limit a steeper pullback, however, were the company's tariff-mitigation strategies and better-than-expected results, with earnings of $5.87 per share on revenue of $86.16 billion.
Today's slide has COST trading at its lowest levels since April and on pace for its worst session since June. Costco's post-earnings track record remains uneven -- this would be the equity's second drop in its last four reports. Year to date, the shares are slipping into the red with a 0.5% deficit.
Analysts are split on COST, with 15 of 34 firms in coverage maintaining a lukewarm "hold" rating. The stock has seen at least four price-target cuts so far today, the biggest of which is from Morgan Stanley Securities to $1,130 from $1,225.
Options traders are likely cheering today's drop. At the International Securities (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), COST's 10-day put/call ratio sits in the 86th percentile of the last year.
Options activity has been nearly evenly split today, with 32,000 puts and 34,000 calls traded so far. Still, traders are favoring the weekly 9/26 900-strike put, where new positions continue to open.
