FMP

FMP

Costco Wholesale Shares Closed Higher Following Q4 Beat

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) shares closed 3.31% higher on Friday following better-than-expected Q4 results. The quarterly EPS came in at $3.76 (vs. consensus of $3.57) and revenue came in at $62.68 million (vs. consensus of $61.3 million).

Analysts at Deutsche Bank increased their price target on the company’s shares to $424 from $399, stating that the upside came from both stronger membership fee growth and better SG&A leverage, which more than offset less favorable GPM. On this front, the brokerage noted that the sequential step back in core-on-core GPM vs. H1 is a function of fresh foods lapping very difficult compares and the normalization of sales mix as ancillary services recover.