Costco’s Business Is Booming in 2025. So Why Is Its Stock Lagging the Market?

Costco's cash registers are ringing nonstop—but Wall Street's reaction has been a collective shrug.

The Disconnect Between Aisles and Algorithms

While shoppers flood warehouses, the stock's performance tells a different story. It's a classic case of strong fundamentals meeting weak sentiment—a disconnect that leaves analysts scratching their heads and investors checking their portfolios.

When Growth Isn't Enough

The market's indifference highlights a brutal truth in modern finance: sometimes, even booming sales can't compete with the latest shiny object or tech narrative. It's the finance equivalent of bringing a casserole to a cocktail party—solid, reliable, but utterly ignored.

For now, Costco keeps doing what it does best: moving product, not hype. And in a market obsessed with the next big thing, that might just be its most radical move of all.

Key Takeaways

• Costco reported quarterly results that topped analysts' expectations on the top and bottom lines, as its e-commerce sales took off.
• The biggest U.S. warehouse club retailer also saw a big jump in revenue from membership fees.
• Costco shares lost ground on Friday, pushing the stock further into negative territory for the year.
  

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) posted better-than-expected results as its e-commerce business boomed and revenue from membership fees increased.

The biggest U.S. warehouse club retailer late Thursday reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings of $4.50 per share, 19 cents more than what analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for. Revenue ROSE 8.3% from a year ago to $67.3 billion, with membership fee revenue growing 14.0% to $1.33 billion. Both were better than forecasts. 

Investors appear to have wanted more, as Costco shares were down nearly 2% in afternoon trading. The stock has now lost about 5% of its value in 2025, significantly lagging the performance of the benchmark S&P 500 index and the gains posted by rival Walmart (WMT).

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What Costco calls "digitally enabled comparable store sales" jumped 20.5% in the latest quarter, while overall comparable store sales were up 6.4%.

The company continues to be pleased with the momentum in digital engagement with customers, CFO Gary Millerchimp said on the earnings call. “Our expectation WOULD be that digital sales as we define it would continue to grow at a faster pace over the longer term than our average sales overall." Those comments came from a transcript provided by AlphaSense.

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Costco didn’t provide a full-year outlook.