Will Costco Keep Up the Pace With Earnings After the Close?

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST | COST Price Prediction) is set to report its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the markets close on Thursday. The consensus estimates are calling for $1.71 in earnings per share (EPS) and $37.25 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $1.61 in EPS and $35.07 billion in revenue.

In the fiscal fourth quarter, net sales increased 7.0% year over year, while membership fees increased 5.3%.

At the same time, comparable sales increased 5.1% on a companywide basis, driven by: U.S. comparable sales increasing 6.2%; Canada comparable sales increasing 2.6%; other international comparable sales increasing 1.9%; and e-commerce comparable sales increased 19.8%.

Back in October, Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price objective to $320 from $310.

Multiple firms raised their target prices on the continued belief that Costco’s higher-income base customers can handle the slower economy and that the big-box retailer can survive and thrive in the Amazon/Walmart-run retail economy.

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Here’s what a few other analysts had to say about Costco ahead of the report:

• Nomura has a Neutral rating and a $300 price target.
• Northcoast Research has a Neutral rating.
• Edward Jones and Guggenheim each have a Hold rating.
• Robert Baird has a Buy rating with a $325 target price.
• BMO has an Outperform rating with a $320 price target.

Overall, Costco has outperformed the broad markets, with its stock up about 45% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock is up closer to 30%.

Shares of Costco traded at $296.01 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $189.51 to $307.34. The consensus price target is $305.38.

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