By Elias Schisgall

Costco Wholesale is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings after the market closes Thursday. Here's what you need to know.

PROFIT: Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting the wholesale retailer to post a profit of $1.9 billion, or $4.29 a share, compared with $1.8 billion, or $4.04 a share, a year earlier.

REVENUE: Wall Street is expecting $67.14 billion in revenue, compared with $62.15 billion a year earlier, according to FactSet.

SAME-STORE SALES: Costco is expected to report 6% growth in same-store sales, compared with a 5.2% increase a year prior, according to FactSet.

The stock has fallen 8.5% in the last three months and was recently trading at $874.40.

WHAT TO WATCH

-- Investors will be closely watching same-store sales results after the company saw a slight deceleration in October and November. But those numbers are likely transitory, Oppenheimer analysts wrote in a note, reflecting the government shutdown and uncertainty around Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits rather than underlying business dynamics. Costco has been posting consistent sales numbers over the last six months, UBS analysts wrote, with the majority of the gains driven by traffic. "These data points suggest the business remains healthy and its market share gains remain robust," they wrote. "We expect these trends to persist through the remainder of the holiday shopping period and beyond."

-- Analysts see Costco's renewal rate as still under some pressure in the short term after posting a decline last quarter. Part of this is because of the change in membership mix, as some Groupon customers entered the membership base in December 2023, Oppenheimer analysts wrote. And any decline is likely to normalize over the long run, UBS analysts said, adding that they expect membership growth to remain strong.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 10, 2025 15:33 ET (20:33 GMT)

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