Is Costco Stock Still a Buy After Earnings?
Costco stock is slightly higher Friday after the warehouse club beat expectations for its fiscal first quarter. Here's what Wall Street has to say.


Costco Wholesale (COST) stock is trading slightly higher Friday after the warehouse club beat top- and bottom-line expectations for its fiscal 2025 first quarter thanks in part to impressive online sales.
In the 12 weeks ending November 24, Costco's revenue increased 7.5% year over year to $62.2 billion, driven by a 5.2% rise in same-store sales. Its earnings per share were up 12.8% from the year-ago period to $4.04.
The report also showed that e-commerce sales jumped 13% year over year, helped by the Costco app being downloaded 2.9 million times during the quarter. This brought the total number of downloads to approximately 42 million.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"E-commerce traffic, conversion rates, and average order value were all up year over year, helping to drive another strong quarter of comparable sales growth," said Costco Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip on the company's conference call.
The executive also noted that Costco "ended Q1 with 77.4 million paid household members, up 7.6% versus last year, and 138.8 million cardholders, up 7.2% year over year."
Millerchip added that the end of the quarter, COST "had 36.4 million paid Executive Memberships, up 9.2% versus last year. And Executive Members now represent 46.8% of paid members and 73.1% of worldwide sales."
Costco's top- and bottom-line results beat analysts' expectations. Wall Street was anticipating revenue of $62.1 billion and earnings of $3.79 per share, according to CNBC.
Is Costco stock a buy, sell or hold?
Costco Wholesale shares have had an impressive run in 2024, up nearly 51% on a total return basis (price change plus dividends) for the year to date. And Wall Street is bullish on the retail stock.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the average analyst target price for the consumer staples stock is $1,003.89, representing a slight premium to current levels. Meanwhile, the consensus recommendation is a Buy.
Financial services firm Jefferies is one of the more bullish outfits on COST stock with a Buy rating and a $1,145 price target.
"COST continues to report favorable results, with a bottom-line beat even excluding the $100 million tax benefit," says Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe. "Traffic led the enterprise core comp growth, operating margin expanded, and digital discretionary trends were robust. Looking ahead, we remain encouraged by COST's business model to report consistent top- and bottom-line growth ahead."
Related Content
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Joey Solitro is a freelance financial journalist at Kiplinger with more than a decade of experience. A longtime equity analyst, Joey has covered a range of industries for media outlets including The Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Market Realist, and TipRanks. Joey holds a bachelor's degree in business administration.
-
Stocks Can't Hold Meta, Microsoft Gains: Stock Market Today
The main indexes all opened higher Thursday on impressive Big Tech earnings, but momentum faded into the close.
-
Retirement Health Care Costs Are On the Rise: What You Need to Know
A 65-year-old retiree will face significantly higher lifetime health care costs than they would have a year ago, even with Medicare. Here are the surprising totals.
-
Stocks Can't Hold Meta, Microsoft Gains: Stock Market Today
The main indexes all opened higher Thursday on impressive Big Tech earnings, but momentum faded into the close.
-
Three Ways to Find Deals in Your Investments This Year
Looking for ways to save because of tariffs? Don't forget to look for deals in your investments. Here are three expert tips for making a little extra this year.
-
How to Invest for a Fall Interest Rate Cut by the Fed
A lot can happen between now and then, but the probability the Fed cuts interest rates before the end of the year is better than 85%.
-
You Don't Have to Be Wealthy to Need a Wealth Manager
Navigating complex financial decisions is hard on your own, no matter how much money you have. A wealth manager can provide comprehensive financial planning, investment management, risk management and more.
-
Despite Tariffs, These Investment Experts Are Bullish on European Equities
European equities were one of the better-performing investments during the first half of 2025. They could be a good long-term prospect for U.S. investors needing to diversify, according to these investment managers.
-
Stocks Are Up and Down on Fed Day: Stock Market Today
In another sign of changing times, JPMorgan has partnered with Coinbase to enable cryptocurrency purchases with credit cards.
-
What Federal Interest Rates Mean for Your Grocery Bill
The relationship between grocery prices and the Federal Reserve has plenty of back-and-forth. Understand how they interplay.
-
5 Undervalued Stocks to Buy Now
There are plenty of high-quality undervalued stocks to buy right now, you just need to know where to look. Here, we highlight five of our top picks.