Thursday before the markets open, Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $1.18 in earnings per share (EPS) and $27.7 billion in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $1.05 in EPS and $26.31 billion in revenue.

The discount giant will stop exclusively accepting American Express cards in the United States at the end of March 2016. Already this year, Costco has replaced American Express in Canada with MasterCard. Previously American Express was the only credit card accepted at a store that had almost $113 billion in sales in its most recent fiscal year. In exchange for that exclusivity, Costco likely negotiated a lower discount rate from the credit-card company.

Presumably retailers put locations in the areas where they expect the most traffic. Being relatively small has an advantage based on that metric. Costco can pick the highest traffic areas. Its competitor Wal-Mart has to spread itself more thinly. One argument analysts make is that Wal-Mart’s demographic profile includes more low-paid customers than Costco’s. To reach of all those people requires a bigger footprint. The consequences for Wal-Mart point to a yield per store problem. Support for that theory rests on the same-store sales of Wal-Mart U.S.

The 50-day moving average (MA) remained below the shares for a majority of the fiscal second quarter, excluding the period that shares tested the average from the middle of January to early February. The 50-day MA currently reads at $141.59. The 200-day moving average is immaterial at $125.73.

Towards the end of Wednesday’s trading session shares of Costco were relatively flat at $147.20. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $150.74 and a 52-week trading range of $110.36 to $156.85.

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