Costco Wholesale Corp. stock COST is down 2.5% in premarket trades after the retailing giant said its U.S. core March comparable stores sales grew by 2.6%, excluding impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange. Analysts at Stifel said the core figure missed the Wall Street consensus estimate of 3.9%. Costco’s total same-store sales fell 1.1%, the first monthly same-store sales drop since April 2020. Stifel reiterated a buy rating on the stock but said the miss amounts to a “watchpoint for most retailers as Costco likely continues to outperform many peers.” Costco’s weakness in sales of non-foods “is most notable” because it likely results from “muted discretionary spending intentions given inflation and recent stock market and ongoing macroeconomic volatility,” Stifel analysts said. Costco stock is up 8.9% in 2023, compared to a 6.5% rise by the S&P 500 SPX.
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