DA Davidson Has Bearish Estimate for COST FY2026 Earnings

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) – Analysts at DA Davidson lowered their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Costco Wholesale in a note issued to investors on Monday, October 13th. DA Davidson analyst M. Baker now expects that the retailer will earn $20.89 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $20.96. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 EPS.

COST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold 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 $1,068.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of COST opened at $954.99 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $423.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $951.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $971.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after acquiring an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,325,416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,141,062,000 after buying an additional 90,107 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,124,263,000 after acquiring an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $5,692,035,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.