Costco Wholesale Corporation

Costco Wholesale reported 13% growth in September net sales, a strong start to fiscal 2027, with management highlighting broad-based gains across same-store sales, e-commerce operations and international clubs. Analysts flagged that part of the sales lift appears tied to one-off or lower-margin drivers that may weigh on profitability. The company runs large membership-only warehouse clubs across North America, Europe and Asia, and the September figures touch both its warehouse rollout story and the economics behind it. Strong same-store performance and online gains suggest recent capital spending is at least supporting higher volumes, though analyst comments on temporary fuel, pharmacy or promotional activity put pressure on the assumption that traffic converts into healthy profitability. The article was produced by Simply Wall St.

Costco Wholesale Corporation is drawing heightened investor attention, with its shares returning +5.1% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.3% change. The company is expected to post earnings of $4.89 per share for the current quarter, a year-over-year change of +12.7%, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has moved +1.4% over the last 30 days. For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $22.87 indicates a year-over-year change of +11.8%, while the next fiscal year's estimate of $24.94 points to a +9.1% change. Revenue forecasts show a consensus sales estimate of $73.99 billion for the current quarter, up +9.9% year over year, with $328.42 billion and $351.91 billion expected for the current and next fiscal years. Costco last reported revenues of $95.72 billion, a year-over-year change of +11.1%, with EPS of $6.6 versus $5.87 a year ago, and carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Costco Wholesale Corporation's digitally enabled sales, including third-party delivery, exceeded $33 billion in fiscal 2026 and grew more than 20%. In the fourth quarter, digitally enabled comparable sales rose 19.5%, or 19.8% excluding foreign-exchange impacts, while e-commerce site and app traffic climbed 30%. Pharmacy, home furnishings, small electrics, hardware, housewares and domestics ranked among Costco's strongest digital sales categories, and the company is extending same-day availability through Uber Eats, DoorDash and Instacart, with management noting average delivery times under an hour and mostly incremental transactions. Personalized product placements and email communications generated triple-digit sales growth in the quarter, with 10% of Costco.com orders including a personalized item, and traffic from AI search grew at a triple-digit rate for the second straight quarter. For comparison, Walmart's global e-commerce sales rose 23% in second-quarter fiscal 2027 and accounted for 24% of total net sales, while Target's second-quarter fiscal 2026 comparable digital sales increased 8.7%.