Costco (COST) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

COST

Costco (COST - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $694.97, moving +1.11% from the previous trading session. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1.23%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.06%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.7%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the warehouse club operator had gained 3.33% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 0.02% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.94% in that time.

The upcoming earnings release of Costco will be of great interest to investors. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $3.56, indicating a 7.88% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $58.81 billion, up 6.42% from the year-ago period.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $15.78 per share and a revenue of $252.73 billion, signifying shifts of +7.42% and +4.31%, respectively, from the last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Costco. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.12% increase. Currently, Costco is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Costco is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 43.56. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 23.7.

Meanwhile, COST's PEG ratio is currently 4.91. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Retail - Discount Stores industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.24.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 62, this industry ranks in the top 25% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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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