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Costco's (COST) Decent Sales & Comps Trend Drives the Stock

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Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST - Free Report) has emerged as a viable option for bargain hunters looking for essentials and other discretionary purchases. COST stands to benefit from its ability to draw traffic through strategic pricing, a robust membership model and an increasing penetration of e-commerce business. Cumulatively, these factors have been aiding COST in registering impressive sales numbers.

This Issaquah, WA-based player’s net sales rose 15.9% year over year to $16.29 billion for the four-week reporting month of February, having ended Feb 27, 2022. This followed a sales increase of 15.5% in January 2022 and 16.2% in December 2021. Impressively, comparable sales for the same month jumped 14%. The metric has risen 14.2% in January 2022 and 14.5% in December 2021.

Costco has been rapidly adopting the omni-channel mantra for a while to provide a seamless shopping experience, whether online or at stores. COST has been gradually expanding its e-commerce capabilities in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. We note that comparable e-commerce sales rose 10.2% in February. This followed an increase of 9% in January 2022 and 17.8% in December 2021. Costco Logistics has bolstered e-commerce capabilities and facilitated selling "big and bulky" items.

 

Zacks Investment Research
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Costco continues to be one of the dominant warehouse retailers based on the expanse and quality of merchandise offered. COST is focused on ramping up investments in the wake of rising competition. We believe that its business model as well as its commitment toward opening membership warehouses, and providing convenient and affordable ways to shop will continue to drive traffic and in turn, revenues.

This operator of membership warehouses has exhibited a decent run on the bourses in the past year. Shares of this currently Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) player have appreciated 59.6% compared with the industry’s growth of 17.7% in the said period.

3 Stocks Looking Red Hot

Here we highlight three better-ranked stocks, namely, Target (TGT - Free Report) , Tractor Supply Company (TSCO - Free Report) and Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM - Free Report) .

General merchandise retailer Target currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). TGT has an expected EPS growth rate of 16.5% for three-five years. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Target’s current financial-year sales and EPS suggests growth of 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago period’s levels. TGT has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 21.3%, on average.

Tractor Supply Company, a rural lifestyle retailer in the United States, carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. TSCO has an expected EPS growth rate of 9.8% for three-five years.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Tractor Supply Company’s current financial-year sales and EPS suggests growth of 8.2% and 9.2%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago period’s actuals. TSCO has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 22%, on average.

Sprouts Farmers offering fresh, natural and organic food products, currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. SFM has an expected EPS growth rate of 7.3% for three-five years.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Sprouts Farmers’ current financial-year sales and EPS suggests growth of 4.7% and 4.8%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago period’s readings. SFM has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.9%, on average.

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