Q1 26 EPS
$4.50
BEAT +5.19%
Est. $4.28
Q1 26 Revenue
$67.31B
BEAT +0.29%
Est. $67.12B
vs S&P Since Q1 26
+9.6%
BEATING MARKET
COST +15.4% vs S&P +5.7%
Market Reaction
Did COST Beat Earnings? Q1 2026 Results
Costco Wholesale delivered a clean beat across the board in its fiscal first quarter results, posting earnings of $4.50 per diluted share against a Wall Street consensus of $4.28, a 5.19% beat, while revenue climbed 8.3% year-over-year to $67.31 bill… Read more Costco Wholesale delivered a clean beat across the board in its fiscal first quarter results, posting earnings of $4.50 per diluted share against a Wall Street consensus of $4.28, a 5.19% beat, while revenue climbed 8.3% year-over-year to $67.31 billion, edging past the $67.12 billion estimate. The standout driver behind the quarter's strength was membership fee income, which surged 14.0% to $1.33 billion as paid memberships rose 5.2% to 81.4 million, underpinned by last year's fee increase and an unwavering worldwide renewal rate of 89.7%. Comparable sales grew 6.4% globally, with digital channels particularly energized, ecommerce comparable sales jumped 20.5%, fueled by a 24% rise in site traffic. Gross margin ticked up 4 basis points to 11.32%, and operating cash flow strengthened meaningfully to $4.69 billion from $3.26 billion a year ago. Looking ahead, Costco plans to open roughly 21 additional warehouses for the remainder of fiscal 2026, targeting 942 total locations by year-end, signaling continued confidence in its long-term expansion trajectory.
Key Takeaways
- • Total comparable sales grew 6.4%, with 3.1% traffic growth and 3.2% ticket growth
- • Digitally-enabled comparable sales surged 20.5%, with ecommerce site traffic up 24% and average order value up 13%
- • Membership fee income grew 14.0% to $1.329 billion driven by fee increase and membership growth
- • Paid memberships grew 5.2% to 81.4 million; total cardholders grew 5.1% to 145.9 million
- • Executive memberships reached 39.7 million, representing 74.3% penetration of sales
- • Gross margin improved 4 bps to 11.32%, with core-on-core sales leverage of 30 bps
- • Working capital changes contributed significantly to operating cash flow improvement
- • Canada comparable traffic led all segments at 5.0%
COST YoY Financials
Q1 2026 vs Q1 2025, source: SEC Filings
COST Revenue by Segment
With YoY comparisons, source: SEC Filings
COST Earnings Trends
COST vs Market 30 Day Price Reactions
30-day stock return vs benchmark after each earnings
COST EPS Trend
Earnings per share: estimate vs actual
COST Revenue Trend
Quarterly revenue: estimate vs actual
COST Quarterly Results
5 quarters of earnings data
| Quarter | EPS Est. | EPS Act. | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 26 | — | $4.58 | — | $69.60B | — |
| Q1 26 BEAT | $4.28 | $4.50 | +5.19% | $67.31B | +0.29% |
| Q4 25 BEAT FY | $5.82 | $5.87 | +0.86% | $86.16B | — |
| FY Full Year | $18.14 | $18.21 | +0.37% | $275.24B | +0.09% |
| Q3 25 BEAT | $4.11 | $4.28 | +4.20% | $63.21B | +0.20% |
| Q2 25 | — | $4.02 | — | $63.72B | — |