Costco rolls out special dividend as Q1 results top estimates; Valuation ‘too rich’ say analysts

(Updated – December 15, 2023 6:42 AM EST)

Investing.com — Costco reported fiscal first-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates and the discount retailer rolled out a special dividend to shareholders.

Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:) was up 2% in pre-market Friday trading following the report.

Costco reported fiscal Q3 earnings of $3.58 per diluted share on revenue of $57.80 billion, beating analyst estimates for EPS of $3.40 and revenue of $57.73B.

Comparable sales in the quarter increased 3.9%, led by growth in U.S. and Canada, up 2.6% and 8,2% respectively, while international was up 7.1% in the quarter.

The company declared a special dividend of $15 per share, payable Jan. 13 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 28.

Analysts said the results were “strong.”

“COST’s strong value offering, high renewal rates, and club expansion plans make COST well-positioned, in our view. Reiterate Buy,” the analysts said.

Analysts praised the “best-in-class operator” although the valuation “seems too rich.”

Costco has “the best private label program to leverage against suppliers — a large margin opportunity. Additionally, Costco scores in the top decile of Food Retailers (according to Yelp!) and also as the top warehouse Club concept,” the analysts said in a note.

Additional reporting by Lon Juricic