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Costco (COST) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

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Costco (COST - Free Report) closed at $879.09 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.89% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.33% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.22%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.56%.

The warehouse club operator's shares have seen an increase of 1.1% over the last month, surpassing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 0.22% and falling behind the S&P 500's gain of 1.83%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Costco in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $3.78, reflecting an 8.62% increase from the same quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $62.38 billion, up 7.92% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $17.75 per share and a revenue of $273.5 billion, demonstrating changes of +10.18% and +7.49%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Costco. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.14% higher. As of now, Costco holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

With respect to valuation, Costco is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 49.97. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 19.73 for its industry.

Also, we should mention that COST has a PEG ratio of 5.46. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As the market closed yesterday, the Retail - Discount Stores industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.33.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 74, this industry ranks in the top 30% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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