Costco stock surges on stronger than expected sales report
Eric Thayer

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) was the top gainer in the S&P in Fridayâs trading after posting stronger than expected sales for the month of December.
The Washington-based retail giant notched $23.8B in sales for the month, up 7% from the prior year. US comparable sales excluding gas and foreign exchange impacts for December were up 6.4%, comfortably above the 5% consensus expectation. 
Shares shot to an over 7% gain during the dayâs trading, touching a high near $484 in morning session.
The stronger than expected report was welcomed by analysts after a downbeat November report prompted a sharp decline for the stock only a month ago.
"The comparisons for holiday 2022 suggested a back ended loaded period and COSTâs results exhibit this. We see COSTâs December comps as not only positive for COST but for the near term retail outlook in general," DA Davidson analyst Michael Baker advised.
He added that traffic trends showed strong improvements sequentially, reinforcing his upbeat take on the results.
Wells Fargo analyst Edward Kelly echoed those observations, adding that an extra selling day ahead of the Christmas holiday likely aided results. Still, he retained a Hold-equivalent rating given an uncertain trajectory into 2023.
âWe continue to have concerns about slowing sales momentum to come with disinflation and the lapping of very tough general merchandise comparisons,â Kelly warned.
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