COST Stock Up Slightly, Costco Reports Q3 and Year-to-Date Operating Results for Fiscal 2022

Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ: COST) closed the May 26 trading at $464.99, up 5.65 percent from the day’s opening price. COST shares traded approximately 2 percent down during the extended period. The spike in the Costco stock volatility is due to mixed Q3 earnings results released during the day.

Costco Q3 Key Financial Highlights

According to the financial report, the net sales for the third quarter came in at $51.61 billion, up 16.3 percent from last year. For the whole year, the company reported net sales of $151.97 billion, up from $130.61 billion.

Costco reported a net income for the just-concluded quarter of $1.353 billion, which reciprocates to $3.04 per diluted share.

“Last year’s third-quarter net income was $1,220 million, $2.75 per diluted share, which included $57 million pretax, $0.09 per diluted share, in COVID-19 related costs, primarily from $2 per hour premium pay. Net income for the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2022 was $3.98 billion, $8.94 per diluted share, compared to $3.34 billion, $7.51 per diluted share, last year,” the company noted in the report.

Despite the record revenue during the past quarter and year, the company is experiencing challenges in market shifts.

“We’re not seeing trade down really. We’re seeing a little bit of shift in where people are spending their money.. this year, there’s more sales in tickets, restaurants, travel, tires and gas,” Robert Nelson, senior vice president of finance and investor relations, said in a post-earnings call.

Notably, Costco currently operates 830 warehouses around the world. Among them include 574 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 30 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 13 in Australia, four in Spain, two each in France and China, and one in Iceland. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.

COST Shares Outlook

According to market data provided by MarketWatch, COST shares have recorded mixed results during the past year. Whereby COST shares are up approximately 20 percent in the past year but have declined 18% YTD.

Having been rated 32 times in the recent past, COST shares received an average rating of Over. Additionally, the company’s stock market received an average recommendation of Overweight. Meanwhile, the 32 ratings have a COST price target of $583.19.

The company has a market outlook of $195.07 billion, and 443.22 million shares outstanding.

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