What's Going On With Costco Stock Today?

Costco Wholesale Corp COST shares are trading lower Wednesday in sympathy with Target Corp TGT, which fell after the company reported mixed third-quarter financial results and lowered its outlook.

• TGT Q3 Revenue: $26.52 billion beat estimate of $26.38 billion
• TGT Q3 EPS: $1.54 missed estimate of $2.13

Target said comparable sales jumped 2.7% year-over-year, driven by a 1.4% increase in traffic and a 1.3% increase in average ticket. The company saw unit share gains across all five core merchandising categories.

See Also: Target Grapples With Inflation, Q3 Bottomline Takes Huge Hit

"This performance demonstrates the durability of our business model which continues to serve our guests and drive loyalty despite the challenging economic environment," said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target.

"In the latter weeks of the quarter, sales and profit trends softened meaningfully, with guests' shopping behavior increasingly impacted by inflation, rising interest rates and economic uncertainty."

As a result of softening sales trends, the company said it's anticipating "a wide range of sales outcomes in the fourth quarter, centered around a low-single digit decline in comparable sales."

Costco shares traded higher Tuesday on the back of Walmart Inc's WMT better-than-expected results, but the stock is pulling back Wednesday as warnings from Target shake Costco investors. 

Related Link: Walmart Stock Jumps: What's Going On?

COST Price Action: Costco has a 52-week high of $612.27 and a 52-week low of $406.51.

The stock was down 1.82% at $516.94 at time of publication.

Photo: Mike Mozart from Flickr.