Brokers Issue Forecasts for COST Q2 Earnings

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) – Research analysts at Roth Capital issued their Q2 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note issued on Thursday, July 10th. Roth Capital analyst W. Kirk forecasts that the retailer will post earnings of $4.40 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q3 2026 earnings at $4.77 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $6.55 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $20.24 EPS.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $970.33 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,003.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $981.90. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $430.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.04, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.