The most recent trading session ended with Costco (COST) standing at $975.84, reflecting a -0.35% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.67%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 1.07%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 2.5%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the warehouse club operator had gained 5.26% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 4.21% and the S&P 500's loss of 6.57% in that time.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Costco in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on May 29, 2025. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $4.24, reflecting a 12.17% increase from the same quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $63.05 billion, showing a 7.75% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $17.95 per share and revenue of $274.23 billion, indicating changes of +11.42% and +7.77%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Costco. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.04% upward. At present, Costco boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Costco is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 54.55. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 21.52.
It is also worth noting that COST currently has a PEG ratio of 5.84. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.68.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 164, positioning it in the bottom 34% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within 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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