Yahoo Finance Costco (COST) Stock Moves -0.76%: What You Should Know
Costco (COST) closed at $310.51 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.76% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.9%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.58%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.93%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the warehouse club operator had gained 5.8% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.75% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.3% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from COST as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be March 5, 2020. In that report, analysts expect COST to post earnings of $2.06 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 2.49%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $38.34 billion, up 8.31% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.61 per share and revenue of $162.96 billion. These totals would mark changes of +5.13% and +6.72%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for COST. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.28% higher within the past month. COST is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that COST has a Forward P/E ratio of 36.35 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.53.
It is also worth noting that COST currently has a PEG ratio of 4.48. 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. COST's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.14 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, putting it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.
To follow COST in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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