Consumer Discretionary

By Andrew Bary It’s getting to be a silly season for certain stocks. The technology stocks propelling the S&P 500 have raced ahead while leaving much of the rest of the market behind. Valuations on the priciest tech stocks based on profits and sales are approaching the peak values reached in late 2021, before the big Nasdaq selloff in 2022. Companies such as Cadence Design Systems, Cloudflare, and Nvidia trade for nearly 20 times projected 2024 sales, a calculation based on market value divided by estimated revenue. Even Microsoft, the world’s largest company at $3 trillion, is valued at more than 10 times estimated sales in its current fiscal year ending in June. Once upon a time, 10 times sales was viewed as pricey. As Scott McNealy, the former CEO of Sun Microsystems, said 20 years ago, “At 10 times revenue, to give you a 10-year payback, I have to […]

Retailer Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) reported second-quarter financial results after market close Thursday. Analysts size up the results and what’s next for Costco stock, which trades near all-time highs. Truist analyst Scot Ciccarelli has a Buy rating and raises the price target from $741 to $815. Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan has a Buy rating and raises the price target from $735 to $800. Telsey analyst Joseph Feldman has an Outperform rating and raises the price targe from $750 to $800. Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh has an Outperform rating and a price target of $805. Goldman Sachs analyst Kate McShane has a Buy rating and raises the price target from $749 to $830. DA Davidson analyst Michael Baker has a Neutral rating and raises the price target from $600 to $680. Related Link: Costco Membership Fee Increase Could Be Coming, Hot Dog & Soda Combo To Stay The Same Truist: Improving discretionary sales and

Costco Reports Q2 EPS of $3.92 on Revenue of $58.4 Billion, vs CIQ Analyst Consensus of $3.64/Share on Revenue of $59.1 Billion。

Costco (COST) shares slipped 4.7% in after-market trading as the company reported revenue that fell short of estimates in the fiscal second quarter despite booming e-commerce sales. The big-box retail giant’s profit rose to $1.74 billion, or $3.92 a share, for the quarter ended Feb. 18, from $1.47 billion, or $3.30 a share, in the prior-year quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expected per-share earnings of $3.61. Revenue rose 5.7% to $58.44 billion, falling short of the $59.11 billion expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Comparable sales for the quarter were up 5.6% for the company, with a 4.3% increase in the U.S. offsetting higher comparable sales growth in Canada and other international. E-commerce comparable sales increased 18% in the quarter.

Costco Wholesale (COST) reported fiscal Q2 earnings late Thursday of $3.92 per diluted share, up from $3.30 a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected $3.61. Net sales for the quarter were $58.44 billion, up from $55.27 billion a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ expected $59.13 billion. Costco shares fell past 4% in after-hours trading.

By Sabrina Escobar Costco (COST.US) topped earnings expectations, but the stock fell in after-hour trading Thursday following the company’s rare revenue miss. The company’s fiscal second-quarter revenue of $58.4 billion missed analyst projections for $59.1 billion. Total company same-store sales, adjusted for currency and gasoline price fluctuations, rose 5.8% year-over-year. Analysts had predicted they would tick up 5%. Earnings of $3.92 a share were higher than estimates for $3.63 a share. Net income got a boost from a $94 million tax benefit from the deductibility of the $15-per-share special dividend announced last year. Costco’s stock fell 4.6% to $749.63 Thursday afternoon. The stock has gained 19% this year, while the S&P 500 is up 8%. The company — and its stock — have been reliable outperformers over the past couple of quarters, with strong financial results pushing shares to historic highs. And indeed, Costco has given investors a lot to