Costco (COST) closed at $886.12 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.43% move from the prior day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1.55%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.44%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.69%.
The warehouse club operator's stock has dropped by 3.55% in the past month, exceeding the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 3.56% and lagging the S&P 500's loss of 1.8%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Costco in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on December 11, 2025. The company is expected to report EPS of $4.24, up 10.99% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $67.15 billion, indicating a 8.04% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
COST's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $19.97 per share and revenue of $296.34 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +11.01% and +7.67%, respectively.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Costco. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% lower within the past month. Right now, Costco possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Costco is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 45.03. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 27.76 of its industry.
One should further note that COST currently holds a PEG ratio of 6.11. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Retail - Discount Stores industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.85 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, finds itself in the top 40% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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