Piper Jaffray Maintains Costco Estimates, Reiterates Overweight Rating

Piper Jaffray is maintaining its Costco Wholesale Corporation COST December comp estimate of +6%-+7%% vs. the consensus mean of ~+6%. “We are assuming a core merchandising comp of ~+5% and combined gas and F/X should provide a tailwind of +2.4%,” Piper Jaffray writes. “However, we note that the storms across the US last week, including flooding in the west and a blizzard on the east coast, may have negatively impacted the December sales and comp.” That being said, Piper Jaffray is maintaining its Overweight rating with an $82 price target based on strong growth and business potential over the next 12 months. Costco Wholesale Corporation closed Friday at $72.21.