Jefferies & Co. is positive on Costco COST after the investment bank did channel checks during the Black Friday shopping period. It has a Buy rating on shares.
In a note sent to investors Jefferies writes, "We are expecting core comp store sales at Costco to come in around 5-6% (ex-gas and fx) and core US comp store sales to be about 4-5% (ex-gas). Our core comp store sales estimates exclude a 100 bps total company benefit (80 bps in the U.S.) from gas and a 100 bps benefit from currency translation. We are forecasting an International local currency comp store sales gain of 7-9%. On a reported basis, we expect US comp store sales to be about 5-6% and International comp store sales to be 11%-13% or about a 6-7% total company comp store sales gain. The consensus estimate currently stands at 6% for total company and this month there is a consensus US estimate ex gas of 4%. Our longer-term optimism on the name reflects a recovery in discretionary product sales, food re-inflation, easing sales comparisons, strong franchise value and market position, potential
membership fee increase, and re-acceleration of store growth the next few years."
Shares of COST finished at $66.97 yesterday, down 25 cents.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Loading...
date | ticker | name | Price Target | Upside/Downside | Recommendation | Firm |
---|
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
Join Now: Free!
Already a member?Sign in