Latest news with #CostcoWholesaleCorp
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Costco defies tariff shifts with higher profit, lower prices
Costco Wholesale Corp. posted better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter, a sign that the nation's largest club chain is flexing its scale and devoted following to navigate tariffs and economic turbulence. The retailer said it generated earnings per share of $4.28 for the quarter ended May 11, above what Wall Street analysts were expecting. The metric suggests that Costco is maintaining profitability even as consumers prioritize necessities to save money. The shares rose 1.5% at 9:37 a.m. in New York trading Friday. Through Thursday's close, the stock had advanced 10% year to date, outpacing the S&P 500 Index. Costco is the latest big-box retailer to post quarterly results, as investors and analysts search for clues on how shoppers are spending. Many consumer-facing companies have posted soft results in recent weeks with Target Corp., Procter & Gamble Co. and Kraft Heinz Co. slashing their annual outlooks. Walmart Inc. and a handful of names have been outliers with strong results. Sweeping, on-again, off-again U.S. tariffs have upended operations across industries, fueling chaos among companies, investors and consumers. Courts are weighing in on whether these tariffs can stay in effect. "We are basing our decisions really based on what we know" and what's in place at the moment, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said in an interview, adding that Costco hasn't made changes in response to court orders this week as tariffs are still in effect. "It's difficult to make decisions on items that we just don't know what the outcome will be." At Costco, price increases are expected to hit later in the year as the company starts to sell new inventory. It won't be a "one-size-fits-all" scenario, Millerchip said. The retailer is likely to hold prices of some items steady and raise others. Costco may stop selling certain products if they become too expensive, and timing will also vary for items. In addition to working with suppliers, Costco is rerouting goods sourced from countries with high tariffs to other markets, Chief Executive Officer Ron Vachris said on a call with analysts Thursday. About a third of Costco's U.S. sales come from goods imported from other countries. In the U.S., it's sourcing more locally-produced mattresses, pillows and other items. The retailer also pulled forward some summer products such as sporting goods - an effort that helped Costco keep prices low. Amid tariff-driven cost increases, Costco is examining potential price changes on an item-by-item basis, executives said. For example, it held prices of pineapples and bananas - sourced from Central and South America - but raised those of other goods that are more discretionary. 'Full-force ahead' As commodity costs have dropped in recent months, Costco lowered prices of eggs, butter and other key staples. These deals, and expanding hours for gas services, helped its performance. Still, prices of non-food items rose in the low-single digits for the first time in a number of quarters due to imported goods, executives said. "It's full-force ahead on lowering prices where we can," Vachris said. Costco tends to be more resistant to economic volatilities because its customers skew more affluent and pay a fee to shop at its network of more than 800 stores. The company - known for its ever-changing assortment of mega-sized products - has been expanding its popular Kirkland brand and investing in its digital operations. Historically, it has sacrificed short-term profit margins to gain members, drive loyalty and grow business. The company's limited-assortment model and large scale also give it more flexibility on what it sells. Against the backdrop of tariffs, measures of U.S. consumer sentiment have deteriorated during most of the Trump administration on fears of an economic fallout. Spending has generally held up so far, though tariff-driven price increases are starting to hit store shelves. Many companies have signaled that they will be strategic and surgical about price increases, holding down costs of some items and discontinuing other products should they get too expensive. Overall, clothes, electronics and home goods are among the most vulnerable to levies. Costco, which reports monthly sales ahead of earnings, said its comparable sales excluding gas and currency fluctuations rose 8% during the latest quarter. E-commerce sales grew about 16% during the quarter. Traffic to website and stores also rose. Gold, toys and health and beauty items were among top sellers. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jim Cramer Says Costco Wholesale (COST) a ‘Huge Winner' in Tariff Warns
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC talked about the latest signs of de-escalation in trade wars between the US and China and told investors that even bear market rallies could be a positive sign. Cramer, however, believes the US government has yet to give any clarity on its policies on China. 'There's a great misunderstanding about how real recoveries get started. They always start as bear market rallies, for heaven's sake. They're rarely based on hard facts. When you get this kind of rally, it doesn't happen because someone gave you the green light to start buying. You don't get a statement from the president that the trade war is over and everything's back to normal.' In addition to positive reports on the US-China tariff front, Cramer also mentioned the latest reports on President Trump's stance on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying that the possibility of Trump firing the central bank chief seems to be 'off the table.' READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In. For this article, we picked 10 stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about during his latest programs on CNBC. With each stock, we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here). A customer in a warehouse aisles, browsing the wide range of branded and private-label products. Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 75 Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC explained why Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) will benefit from tariffs. 'Costco huge winner. Why? Because they have a club. The club status is to pass on anything. And then they still have the, and it's still going to be cheaper. So we cannot lump all these together. We lump them initially. Costco is going to be down as much as Target, but then we have to come back and say maybe Target should stay down, but Costco should go up. So there's like a secondary look at things.' Aoris Investment Management stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its Q4 2024 investor letter: 'Firstly, I think we exercised good valuation discipline in our sales of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) and Cintas. The share prices of these two companies had increased by more than 60% and 40% respectively in the year prior to our sale. It can be difficult as investors to remain objective and not 'fall in love' with an investment when it is performing well. A higher share price doesn't make a business more valuable! Overall, COST ranks 4th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. While we acknowledge the potential of COST as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COST but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jim Cramer Says Costco Wholesale (COST) a ‘Huge Winner' in Tariff Warns
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC talked about the latest signs of de-escalation in trade wars between the US and China and told investors that even bear market rallies could be a positive sign. Cramer, however, believes the US government has yet to give any clarity on its policies on China. 'There's a great misunderstanding about how real recoveries get started. They always start as bear market rallies, for heaven's sake. They're rarely based on hard facts. When you get this kind of rally, it doesn't happen because someone gave you the green light to start buying. You don't get a statement from the president that the trade war is over and everything's back to normal.' In addition to positive reports on the US-China tariff front, Cramer also mentioned the latest reports on President Trump's stance on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying that the possibility of Trump firing the central bank chief seems to be 'off the table.' READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In. For this article, we picked 10 stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about during his latest programs on CNBC. With each stock, we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here). A customer in a warehouse aisles, browsing the wide range of branded and private-label products. Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 75 Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC explained why Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) will benefit from tariffs. 'Costco huge winner. Why? Because they have a club. The club status is to pass on anything. And then they still have the, and it's still going to be cheaper. So we cannot lump all these together. We lump them initially. Costco is going to be down as much as Target, but then we have to come back and say maybe Target should stay down, but Costco should go up. So there's like a secondary look at things.' Aoris Investment Management stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its Q4 2024 investor letter: 'Firstly, I think we exercised good valuation discipline in our sales of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) and Cintas. The share prices of these two companies had increased by more than 60% and 40% respectively in the year prior to our sale. It can be difficult as investors to remain objective and not 'fall in love' with an investment when it is performing well. A higher share price doesn't make a business more valuable! Overall, COST ranks 4th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. While we acknowledge the potential of COST as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COST but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jim Cramer Says You Should Buy Costco Wholesale (COST)- Here's Why
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer is discussing ahead of Q1 earnings season. Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC talked about the winning sectors so far this year and said the trends show a 'strange' pattern. Cramer specifically mentioned the oil and gas sector which he believed would underperform given President Donald Trump's plan to keep energy prices lower. 'I thought this group would be down given that the president wants to expand drill and we have a slower economy, but the stocks aren't expensive and demand for natural gas very strong,' Cramer said. Cramer also talked about healthcare and other key sectors that performed well. He believes these patterns show that investors are turning to sectors that perform well during recessions. However, Cramer thinks the state of the economy is better than feared. 'The seven stocks that make up the S&P are too big to dismiss. You need at least some of them to put together a really positive tape. But the bottom line, it's terrific to see such a broad mixture of stocks winning here, from ones that can run in a recession to ones that can rally hard in a robust economy. What it tells me is that the market may be far healthier than we think, and this backdrop simply isn't as bad as many would have you believe.' READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In For this article, we picked 10 stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about during his programs on CNBC. With each company, we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here). Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 75 A caller recently asked Jim Cramer about Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST). Here is what Cramer said: 'I care about profitability, I care about growth. Costco's got them. Costco is a buy. Stock is way too low. I know people are thinking it's rolling over, I think that'll prove to be wrong. Buy some here, buy some next week.' Aoris Investment Management stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its Q4 2024 investor letter: 'Firstly, I think we exercised good valuation discipline in our sales of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) and Cintas. The share prices of these two companies had increased by more than 60% and 40% respectively in the year prior to our sale. It can be difficult as investors to remain objective and not 'fall in love' with an investment when it is performing well. A higher share price doesn't make a business more valuable! Overall, COST ranks 2nd on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer is discussing ahead of Q1 earnings season. While we acknowledge the potential of COST, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COST but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Countdown to Costco: Gas station opens one month before much-anticipated retail warehouse
STUART — Costco Wholesale Corp. opened its members-only gas station here Tuesday, one month before opening its highly-anticipated retail store. The gas station is the first finished piece of the 49-acre development at 3173 S. Kanner Highway, just south of Martin County High School. The 156,438-square-foot Costco Wholesale store is to open 8 a.m. April 25. Workers waved signs along Kanner Highway Wednesday, beckoning drivers to sign up for memberships at a kiosk near the store entrance and to fill up their vehicles for the first time. Drivers who already had Costco memberships said they were impressed with the gas prices and said they were eager to start shopping at a Costco store closer to home. "It's quite a bit cheaper," said Jaimo Opila, of Stuart, after filling up his Ford Ranger XLT. He's had a Costco membership for more than 25 years, he said. "Not having to run to North Palm Beach is very, very convenient." A gallon of regular gas cost $2.73 per gallon Wednesday at Costco, the cheapest price in Martin County, according to GasBuddy, a comparison-search website for gasoline. "I just renewed my Costco membership at the end of last year, knowing that Costco was coming to Stuart," said Carla Williamson, of Stuart, adding she is excited to buy fresh produce and other goods in bulk. "I am thrilled, because it is going to help my family, in terms of cost of living. I have young children and food costs a lot." More: Stuart Costco store to open April 25 as 49-acre Kanner Highway development nears completion More: Stuart could get 'vast majority' of $206M-$400M economic benefit from Brightline station The gas station is open to members only. It has 12 pumps and 24 fuel positions. The station sold 500 gallons of gasoline on its opening day, according to Tony Sleugh, a Costco fuel operations manager. A Costco station typically sells 35,000 gallons of gas per day, he said, but the Stuart location is expected to ramp up to that volume once the adjoining store opens. Jack Randall is TCPalm's economy and real estate reporter. You can reach him at or 904-466-4755. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Countdown to Costco: Gas station opens one month before retail store
