Costco shares near $1,054 after October sales jump 12.6%
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Warehouse retailer Costco posted October sales of $24.50 billion, up 12.6% from a year earlier.
The stock is up about 20% this year despite a rich valuation.
Background
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) is the warehouse retailer that runs 943 warehouses worldwide, 651 of them in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Its stock has long traded above the levels of similar companies, which investors have justified by its reliable model; as of mid-October it carried a price-to-earnings ratio of 46, down from over 60 last year but still much higher than historical levels. The recent rally has been driven by a rotation into safer stocks and away from the AI trade, plus strong company fundamentals including the October sales report.
How it unfolded
- Sep 24, 2026Costco reported fiscal Q4 results: EPS of $6.75 beat the $6.53 estimate, and revenue of $95.72 billion topped the $94.85 billion estimate, rising 11.1%.
- Oct 30, 2026As of the Oct. 30 closing price, Costco was trading above $1,000.
- Nov 1, 2026Costco stock had climbed 17.3% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500's 10.7% return; it opened 2026 at $861.14.
- Nov 5, 2026Shares rose after October sales: the four-week retail month ending Nov. 1 produced $24.50 billion, a 12.6% increase, with digital shopping up 22.5%. COST was up 2.22% at $1069.68 at time of publication.
- Nov 6, 2026Costco stock fell 1.13% on Friday, from $1,065.59 to $1,053.56, on volume of about 2 million shares worth roughly $2.62 billion.
Key terms
- price-to-earnings ratio
- A company's earnings per share over the past twelve months, used as the denominator in a price-to-earnings ratio.
- EPS
- The monetary value of earnings per outstanding share of common stock for a company over a defined period.
- S&P 500
- A stock market index tracking the performance of 500 large US companies listed on American exchanges.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- StockInvest.us said several short-term signals and a general good trend are positive, and expects the stock to rise 8.31% over the next three months.
- Bulls
- 24/7 Wall St. set a $1,098.23 price target with a buy rating and 90% confidence, treating six straight earnings beats as the variable most likely to drive the next move.
- Expert
- CNBC Investing Club's Jim Cramer, asked whether Costco shares could surpass their May record, responded: "Yeah, we will."
Still unverified
Whether Costco will split its stock in 2027 is discussed as an open question; the sources note a lack of management commentary on the issue and say a split isn't imminent.