Roth Capital Expects Weaker Earnings for Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) – Investment analysts at Roth Capital reduced their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a note issued to investors on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital analyst W. Kirk now expects that the retailer will post earnings of $4.24 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.52. Roth Capital has a “Neutral” rating and a $907.00 price objective on the stock. 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 Q2 2026 earnings at $4.35 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.72 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $6.37 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $19.67 EPS.

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

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $925.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $954.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.40. The company has a market cap of $410.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.97.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

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.