Costco (COST) Ascends But Remains Behind Market: Some Facts to Note

The latest trading session saw Costco (COST) ending at $1,016.15, denoting a +0.8% adjustment from its last day's close. This change lagged the S&P 500's 3.26% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 2.81%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 4.35%.The warehouse club operator's shares have seen an increase of 4.64% over the last month, surpassing the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 4.56% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.78%.The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Costco in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on May 29, 2025. The company is expected to report EPS of $4.25, up 12.43% from the prior-year quarter. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $63.14 billion, reflecting a 7.9% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $17.96 per share and revenue of $274.79 billion, which would represent changes of +11.48% and +7.99%, respectively, from the prior year.Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Costco. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.05% upward. Costco presently features a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).In the context of valuation, Costco is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 56.13. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.7.Meanwhile, COST's PEG ratio is currently 5.99. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.69.The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 71, this industry ranks in the top 29% 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 follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks