Equities Analysts Set Expectations for COST Q1 Earnings

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group boosted their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report issued on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now expects that the retailer will earn $4.35 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.33. Telsey Advisory Group has a “Outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share. Telsey Advisory Group also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q2 2026 earnings at $4.50 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $930.49 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $413.04 billion, a PE ratio of 54.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $990.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $944.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

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.