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In April, Costco reported net sales of $23.92 billion for the month, up 13% from last year, while total comparable sales rose by 11.6%. Even after removing gasoline and foreign exchange effects, comparable sales still increased by 7.8%, which suggests that the core business remained healthy. Digitally enabled comparable sales were also strong, rising by 18.8% in April and 21.6% over the first 35 weeks of the fiscal year, so investors will likely pay close attention to whether e-commerce and membership traffic stayed strong.
However, the main risk is valuation. Costco has been a defensive winner as investors look for steady retail growth, and the stock has rallied sharply in 2026 to near record highs ahead of earnings. As a result, Costco’s price-to-earnings ratio is now at 55x, which means that expectations are already high. So, even a good quarter may create a “sell the news” event unless the numbers blow expectations out of the water and management provides confident commentary.
What Do Options Traders Anticipate?
Using TipRanks’ Options tool, we can see what options traders are expecting from the stock immediately after its earnings report. The expected earnings move is determined by calculating the at-the-money straddle of the options closest to expiration after the earnings announcement. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry, the Options tool does this for you. Indeed, it currently says that options traders are expecting a 3.65% move in either direction.
