--- title: "Great Expectations for Costco Earnings Preview—Stock Split Ahead?" description: "Costco is set to report quarterly earnings after the market closes on Thursday, with expectations of an EPS of $3.08 on $54.03 billion in revenue, significantly up from last quarter. Increased members" type: "news" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/215113841.md" published_at: "2024-09-24T21:21:40.000Z" --- # Great Expectations for Costco Earnings Preview—Stock Split Ahead? > Costco is set to report quarterly earnings after the market closes on Thursday, with expectations of an EPS of $3.08 on $54.03 billion in revenue, significantly up from last quarter. Increased membership fees will be a key focus, impacting around 52 million memberships. Costco's stock has risen over 37% this year, nearing all-time highs, with low implied volatility ahead of the earnings report. Investors are speculating on a potential stock split announcement, while concerns remain about the impact of fee increases on membership retention. ## Costco will report quarterly earnings after the stock market closes on Thursday. - *The popular wholesaler is expected to announce earnings-per-share of $5.08 on $80.03 billion in revenue.* - *Both estimates are way up from last quarter's results, which were $3.78 and $58.52 billion, respectively.* - *Information regarding increased membership fees will likely be a focal point for this earnings call.* ## **Costco Earnings Preview** One of the few household company names left to release quarterly earnings is **Costco** (COST). On Thursday after the market closes, quarterly earnings will be released, and investors have great expectations. Costco is expected to report an earnings-per-share (EPS) of $5.08 on $80.03 billion in revenue, up from EPS of $3.78 on $58.52 billion in revenue just a quarter ago. After announcing a $1.16 dividend in July, Costco also announced membership fees are going up. Here’s an excerpt from the press release: "The company also announced that, effective Sept. 1, it will increase annual membership fees by $5 for U.S. and Canada Gold Star (individual), business, and business add-on members. With this increase, all ... will pay an annual fee of $65. Also effective September 1, annual fees for Executive Memberships in the U.S. and Canada will increase from $120 to $130 (Primary membership of $65, plus the Executive upgrade of $65), and the maximum annual 2% Reward associated with the Executive Membership will increase from $1,000 to $1,250. The fee increases will impact around 52 million memberships, a little over half of which are Executive." It will be interesting to see how increased fees may play a role in forecasting for the rest of the year and into 2025, with such a sharp increase in earnings estimates this quarter. COST stock has had a stellar 2024, opening the year at $655.58, and its hovering around $900 per share today—near the highs of the year. When the markets were selling off aggressively in early August, Costco's stock price was moving to the upside. It could be seen as a safe haven for investors when consumers are looking to cut costs in volatile times. Costco is up over 37% on the year, sitting close to all time highs. The implied volatility is relatively low compared to other popular ticker symbols that have already released earnings. Looking at the expected stock price move this week, we can see a +/- $35.10 implied move for the next few days. This is just over 3% of the notional value of the stock price, which is very low considering most popular stocks land in the 5%-10% range for earnings. Looking to the end of the year, we can see a +/- $95.41 expected stock price move priced into the January 2025 expiration cycle, which means this earnings report accounts for just over a third of the expected stock price move through the end of the year. ## **Bullish on Costco for earnings** Earnings participants who are bullish on Costco for earnings may be looking for a surprise announcement like a stock split, paired with an earnings beat on elevated earnings expectations. We've seen popular names like **MicroStrategy** (MSTR), **NVIDIA** (NVDA), **Chipotle** (CMG) and **Broadcom** (AVGO) split this year. And while a bullish run doesn't always follow a split, it certainly draws attention to the stock. With Costco near all-time highs, they'll need to post a strong earnings report if we're to expect the stock price will open higher on Friday morning. ## **Bearish on Costco for earnings** Costco bears are looking for an earnings miss, and maybe a temperance of membership performance after the price hike. Could the price hike deter members from continuing their memberships? Any sort of negative data could result in a bearish move in the stock price on Friday morning. **Mike Butler**,*tastylive director of market intelligence, has been in the markets and trading for a decade. He appears on**Options Trading Concepts Live**, airing Monday-Friday. @tradermikeyb* **For live daily programming, market news and commentary***, visit**tastylive**or the YouTube channels**tastylive**(for options traders), and**tastyliveTrending**for stocks, futures, forex & macro.* **Trade with a better broker***,**open a tastytrade account**today. tastylive, Inc. and tastytrade, Inc. are separate but affiliated companies.* ### Related Stocks - [COST.US - Costco Wholesale](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/COST.US.md) ## Related News & Research | Title | Description | URL | |-------|-------------|-----| | Prediction: Costco Will Be Worth More Than Wall Street Analysts Expect in 10 Years | Costco Wholesale is predicted to be worth more than Wall Street analysts expect in 10 years, driven by its strong member | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/259478571.md) | | Is This Stellar Dividend Growth Stock Under $1,000 a Screaming Buy? | The article discusses Costco (NASDAQ:COST) as a strong dividend growth stock, currently priced at $915, which is 15% bel | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/259362772.md) | | Short Interest in Schneider Electric SE (OTCMKTS:SBGSY) Drops By 16.8% | Schneider Electric SE (OTCMKTS:SBGSY) experienced a 16.8% decrease in short interest in January, with 197,858 shares sho | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276071356.md) | | What to Expect from Palo Alto Networks's Earnings | Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) is set to release its quarterly earnings report on February 17, 2026, with analysts exp | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276061399.md) | | Volkswagen Mulls 20% Company-wide Cost Reduction by 2028-End | Volkswagen Mulls 20% Company-wide Cost Reduction by 2028-End | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276044410.md) | --- > **Disclaimer**: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.