Costco price target raised to $980 from $950 at BMO Capital

BMO Capital analyst Kelly Bania raised the firm’s price target on Costco to $980 from $950 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The company reported strong underlying Q4 earnings with gross margins and comps slightly ahead of the firm’s forecast, along with continued strong 6% customer traffic growth globally, the analyst tells investors in a research note. While Costco’s FY24 EPS growth was above average, BMO has a “slightly more conservative” EPS growth outlook in the coming years given the company’s historical reinvestment of member fee income increases, even though it remains “encouraged” by the company’s momentum in e-commerce growth and sees the stock’s valuation remaining “attractive”, the firm added.