Consumer Discretionary

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/05/2024 6.24% Oppenheimer $675 → $695 Maintains Outperform 12/29/2023 13.88% Tigress Financial $635 → $745 Maintains Buy 12/21/2023 13.27% Truist Securities $693 → $741 Maintains Buy 12/20/2023 -5.23% Northcoast Research → $620 Downgrades Buy → Neutral 12/15/2023 7% BMO Capital $612 → $700 Maintains Outperform 12/15/2023 -8.28% DA Davidson $570 → $600 Maintains Neutral 12/15/2023 3.18% Stifel $615 → $675 Maintains Buy 12/15/2023 -3.7% Citigroup $585 → $630 Maintains Neutral 12/15/2023 10.82% UBS $640 → $725 Maintains Buy 12/15/2023 3.18% Oppenheimer → $675 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 12/15/2023 2.42% Raymond James $580 → $670 Maintains Outperform 12/15/2023 5.93% Truist Securities $619 → $693 Maintains Buy 12/15/2023 7% Telsey Advisory Group $625 → $700 Maintains Outperform 12/13/2023 3.18% Oppenheimer $630 → $675 Maintains Outperform 12/12/2023 -0.64% Evercore ISI Group $640 → […]

ISSAQUAH, Wash., Jan. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: COST) today reported net sales of $26.15 billion for the retail month of December, the five weeks ended December 31, 2023 an increase of 9.9 percent from $23.80 billion last year. For the seventeen weeks ended December 31, 2023, the Company reported net sales of $82.86 billion, an increase of 5.9 percent from $78.26 billion for the seventeen weeks of fiscal year 2023 ended December 25, 2022. Net sales for the seventeen weeks were negatively impacted by approximately one-half to one percent from the shift of the fiscal calendar, as a result of the fifty-third week in fiscal year 2023. Comparable sales for the periods ended December 31, 2023 were as follows: 5 Weeks 17 Weeks U.S. 7.3% 3.6% Canada 12.8% 8.3% Other International 10.5% 10.9% Total Company 8.5% 5.2% E-commerce 17.7% 10.2% Comparable

Costco Wholesale (COST) reported sales Thursday of $26.15 billion in December, up nearly 10% from a year earlier. Total company sales in December rose 8.5%, while e-commerce sales jumped about 18%. For the 17 weeks ended Dec. 31, 2023, Costco reported sales of $82.86 billion, almost 6% from a year earlier.

Costco’s once-slumping e-commerce channel is now racing ahead. The big-box retailer says e-commerce comparable sales rose about 18% in the five weeks ending Dec. 31, accelerating from a 9.9% increase in the four weeks ended Nov. 26 and a 3.7% rise in the month ended Oct. 23. Costco bucked the trend of declining online sales in its latest quarterly report, helped by shoppers ramping up their purchases of discretionary items from Costco’s website.

Costco’s December sales numbers are the first indicator from a company of how holiday sales held up, and the early read is positive. DA Davidson analyst Michael Baker says in a research note that the overall comparative sales acceleration and the ramp up in online sales are both a good sign for general holiday spending. E-commerce sales in particular tend to correlate with discretionary items for Costco, a sign that shoppers were coming out in force to buy gifts in December. He also notes non-food goods, excluding foreign exchange, were up in the high-single digits, their best performance since August.