With a market cap of $453.5 billion, Issaquah, Washington-based Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) is a membership-based retailer that sells high volumes of discounted food and general merchandise through warehouses and e-commerce websites across multiple countries. It offers both nationally branded and private-label products in categories like food, electronics, appliances, apparel, and household goods.
Companies valued $200 billion or more are generally considered “mega-cap” stocks and Costco Wholesale fits this criterion perfectly. It generates revenue primarily from store sales and membership fees, with three membership tiers: Business, Gold Star, and Executive. Costco also provides additional services such as gasoline stations, pharmacies, optical centers, and travel services.
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However, the warehouse club operator is down 4.3% from its 52-week high of $1,078.23. In addition, shares of COST have returned 7.4% over the past three months, outperforming the broader Nasdaq Composite's ($NASX) 2.7% decline over the same time frame.
Longer term, COST is up 12.7% on a YTD basis, outpacing NASX's nearly 4% dip. Moreover, shares of Costco have gained 38% over the past 52 weeks, compared to NASX's 15.7% return over the same time frame.
Also, COST has been trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since last year.
Shares of Costco recovered marginally following its Q1 2025 earnings release on Dec. 12 due to strong financial performance, with adjusted EPS of $3.82 and total revenue of $62.2 billion, both exceeding the expectations. In addition, on Feb. 5, the company reported net sales of $19.5 billion for January, reflecting a 9.2% increase. For the first 22 weeks of the fiscal year, net sales reached $113.6 billion, up 8.2%, with Costco operating 897 warehouses worldwide and multiple e-commerce sites.
In comparison, rival Walmart Inc. (WMT) underperformed COST on a YTD basis, gaining 7.9%. But, Shares of Walmart have surged 63.4% over the past 52 weeks, outpacing Costco.
Despite COST’s strong price action relative to Nasdaq, analysts remain cautiously optimistic about its prospects. Among the 33 analysts covering the stock, there is a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy,” and it is currently trading above the mean price target of $1,063.06.
On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
