Retail chain Costco Wholesale Corp.’s (NASDAQ: COST) net sales increased almost 14% year-over-year to $17.33 billion in April. For the 35 weeks ended May 1, net sales jumped 16.4% to $147.33 billion.
This year, the month of April had one less shopping day compared to last year, which had around 2-2.5% negative impact on the company’s total and comparable sales.
According to a report published by StreetInsider.com, total comparable sales grew 12.6% in April, above the consensus estimate of 9.1%. U.S. comparable sales, excluding the impact of fuel and foreign currencies, were up 8.1% versus the Street’s estimate of a rise of 7.7%.
About Costco
Based out of Washington, Costco operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores. Currently, it has 829 warehouses, including 573 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 30 in Japan, 29 in the U.K., 16 in South 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 U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.
Wall Street’s Take
After the April sales figures were released, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Mark Astrachan maintained a Buy rating on the stock and raised the price target to $565 from $555 (9.2% upside potential).
Astrachan believes Costco is “a best-in-class retailer and a core holding for large-cap consumer investors.”
Additionally, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) analyst Edward Kelly has a Buy rating on the stock.
In a note to investors, Kelly said, the April data came in “strong as the company continues to post impressive growth against difficult multiyear comparisons.”
Overall, the stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 17 Buys and three Holds. COST’s average price target of $609.90 implies 17.9% upside potential.
Investors’ Stance
TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool shows that investors currently have a Very Positive stance on Costco, as 4.7% of investors on TipRanks increased their exposure to the stock over the past 30 days.
Conclusion
Costco is scheduled to release its fiscal third-quarter results on May 26. If the company manages to surpass estimates like the last few quarters, it could mean an upside for the stock, which has lost 11.5% over the past month.
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