So, how do you know a retailer is doing well? When it can post strong sales growth even after the calendar takes a day away. That's the story for Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) this week.
The warehouse club giant reported its March 2026 sales results, and the numbers are solid. Net sales for the month increased 11.3% year over year to $28.41 billion. For the first 31 weeks of its fiscal year, net sales are up 9.1% to $173.26 billion.
Digging into the comparable sales figures—which look at sales from stores open for more than a year—tells a similar story. Comps climbed 9.4% in March and are up 7.2% for the year-to-date period.
The real star of the show, however, continues to be e-commerce. Costco said its digitally enabled comparable sales rose more than 20% in both the month and the 31-week period. That's the kind of growth that gets investors' attention, especially for a company known for its massive in-store footprint.
If you strip out the volatile effects of changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange rates, the underlying sales growth is still healthy. On that basis, comparable sales rose 6.2% for March and 6.4% for the fiscal year so far.
Here's the interesting bit: Costco pointed out that the timing of Easter this year meant March had one fewer shopping day. The company estimates that calendar quirk negatively impacted sales by about 1.5 percentage points. In other words, the headline 9.4% comp sales gain could have been closer to 11% without that scheduling oddity. It's a good reminder that sometimes you have to read past the headline number.
The retailer also noted it now operates 928 warehouses globally, with 637 of those in the United States.
This sales update follows a strong quarterly report from Costco back in March. For its fiscal second quarter, the company posted revenue of $69.60 billion, beating analyst estimates. It reported earnings of $4.58 per share, also a slight beat. Comparable sales for that quarter rose 7.4% from a year earlier.
Analysts, for the most part, like what they see. The stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $1,064.29. Recent analyst actions have been positive, including Telsey Advisory Group maintaining an Outperform rating with a $1,125 target, JP Morgan raising its target to $1,060, and BMO Capital boosting its target to a street-high $1,315.
From a technical perspective, the stock is showing strength. Trading around $1,027.13 at the time of the report, it was positioned 3.4% above its 20-day simple moving average and 3.7% above its 100-day moving average—both signs of positive momentum. The relative strength index (RSI) was at a neutral 66.19, suggesting the stock isn't overbought and may have room to run.
Key technical levels to watch include resistance at the 52-week high of $1,067.08 and support around the 50-day moving average near $990.71. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained about 6.74%.
For investors who prefer to get exposure through funds, Costco is a major holding in a couple of key ETFs. It makes up 4.81% of the Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF (SPHQ) and a hefty 9.00% of the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP). That's significant because large inflows or outflows from these popular funds can force automatic, mechanical buying or selling of Costco shares, adding another layer to its stock price movements.
In early trading Thursday, Costco shares were up slightly, ticking 0.13% higher to $1,031.59.
