What is William Blair’s Estimate for COST Q1 Earnings?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Research analysts at William Blair issued their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for Costco Wholesale in a note issued to investors on Monday, March 3rd. William Blair analyst P. Blee forecasts that the retailer will post earnings per share of $4.33 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q2 2026 earnings at $4.46 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.76 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $6.47 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $1,046.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $984.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $939.83. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $464.70 billion, a PE ratio of 61.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.