2023-09-26 17:03:40 ET
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) is trading down in extended hours even though it reported market-beating results for its fiscal fourth quarter.
Jefferies analyst shares his view on Costco
Even though the membership warehouse retailer came in ahead of Street estimates – pockets of weakness in the United States were evident in its earnings release .
Its U.S. comparable sales were up only 0.2% in the recently concluded quarter and now that student loan repayments are about to resume, things will likely lose steam further moving forward, as per Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe.
We conducted a survey of 600 U.S. consumers with student loans, the average payment is likely to be $460 a month which could take a big chunk out of many people’s wallets.
Note that inflation isn’t making it any easier for retailers either. Consumer prices in the U.S. were up 0.6% last month versus 0.2% in July ( link ). Costco stock is up 20% year-to-date at writing.
Notable figures in Costco Q4 earnings release
- Eared $2.16 billion versus the year-ago $1.87 billion
- Per-share earnings also increased from $4.20 to $4.86
- Revenue jumped nearly 10% year-on-year to $78.94 billion
- Consensus was $4.79 per share on $77.72 billion revenue
- Same-store sales also climbed a better-than-expected 1.1%
Costco saw its eCommerce sales slip 0.8% in its fourth quarter. On CNBC’s “ Worldwide Exchange ” this morning, Jefferies’ Tarlowe added:
I think with the consumer environment ahead, you need to be a bit hesitant. Discounting has been a bit elevated; I think it illustrates that the consumer has become a bit more stretched.
Nonetheless, the analyst maintained his “buy” rating on Costco stock today. His $640 price target on the retail company suggests another 20% upside from here.
The post Costco Q4 earnings: ‘you need to be a bit hesitant’ appeared first on Invezz .