---
type: "Topics"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/39097378.md"
description: "COST F2Q26 First Take: results remained steady and familiar. Revenue and EPS were slightly above sell-side estimates, with a very narrow beat given the company’s consistency. On trends, revenue accelerated on inflation and FX tailwinds. However, with opex rising faster than revenue, margin expanded just 10bps YoY, below market expectations. 1) Comps rose 7.4% this quarter, a notable pickup vs. last quarter. The gain was driven by a +4.2% increase in avg. ticket, while traffic grew 3.1%, flat vs. last quarter.U.S. domestic growth decelerated QoQ by 20bps, and fuel prices plus FX provided a meaningful tailwind. Ex fuel and FX, the YoY increase in avg. ticket eased to 3.5%. That is still elevated, with prior disclosures indicating higher gold prices boosted high-ticket jewelry spend. 2) From a cost and expense lens: GPM rose 12bps YoY, continuing an improving trend and beating consensus. Mix was driven by non-core businesses (+19bps; fuel, food courts, pharmacy), while core merchandise GPM slipped 3bps. Expenses were up 10.8% YoY, outpacing revenue, widening the opex ratio by 13bps YoY. The increase was mainly HQ costs (+4bps) and one-offs (+6bps) due to changes in liability accruals.As higher GP and expanded opex offset each other, margins still improved but only modestly for COST. $Costco Wholesale(COST.US)"
datetime: "2026-03-06T02:30:37.000Z"
locales:
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/topics/39097378.md)
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/39097378.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/39097378.md)
author: "[Dolphin Research](https://longbridge.com/en/news/dolphin.md)"
---

> Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/39097378.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/39097378.md)


# COST F2Q26 First Take: results remained steady and…


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