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Costco (COST) Stock Moves -0.09%: What You Should Know

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Costco (COST - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $563.83, moving -0.09% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.94%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.22%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.53%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the warehouse club operator had gained 4.83% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 0.93% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.85% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Costco as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be September 26, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $4.71, up 12.14% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $78.56 billion, up 8.98% from the year-ago period.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Costco should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.09% higher within the past month. Costco currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Costco is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 36.65. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 22.25, which means Costco is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that COST currently has a PEG ratio of 4.17. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. COST's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 164, putting it in the bottom 35% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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