What to Expect When Costco Reports After the Close

May 31, 2018 by Chris Lange

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly results after the markets close on Thursday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters are $1.69 in earnings per share (EPS) and $31.84 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, Costco said it had EPS of $1.40 and $28.86 billion in revenue.

This is one of America’s largest new car sellers. Last year its members bought more than 520,000 new vehicles through its auto program. That’s almost as many as Volvo sold worldwide last year (534,332 units), so it makes sense that the automaker has paired up with Costco Auto Program to offer a special deal through July 2 of this year.

Announced earlier in May, Volvo is offering Costco members employee pricing on certain Volvo models, including for the first time the new 2018 Volvo XC60.

Volvo is one of some 35 automobile brands available through the Costco Auto Program managed by Affinity Auto Program. Costco does not actually sell the cars but has prearranged prices with auto dealers on new and some pre-owned vehicles, RVs, motorcycles and powersport products. The Costco Auto Program works with its participating dealerships to provide Costco members with hassle-free, transparent savings on a vehicle.

Overall, Costco shares have kept more or less in line with the broad markets in the past 52 weeks, with the stock up about 12%. In just 2018 alone, the stock is up only 7%.

A few analysts weighed in on Costco ahead of the earnings report:

  • Argus has a Buy rating with a $220 price target.
  • RBS has an Outperform rating and a $213 price target.
  • Loop Capital has a Buy rating with a $224 target price.
  • Wells Fargo has an Outperform rating.
  • BMO Capital Markets has a Buy rating with a $223 target.

Shares of Costco were last seen at $199.45, with a consensus analyst price target of $211.48 and a 52-week range of $150.00 to $201.77.

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