Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 8.0% to US$964 in the week after its latest second-quarter results. It looks like the results were a bit of a negative overall. While revenues of US$64b were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings were less than expected, missing estimates by 2.1% to hit US$4.02 per share. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

See our latest analysis for Costco Wholesale

Following the latest results, Costco Wholesale's 33 analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$273.5b in 2025. This would be an okay 3.6% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to increase 5.3% to US$18.08. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$272.8b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$18.20 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$1,062, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on Costco Wholesale, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$1,205 and the most bearish at US$560 per share. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. We would highlight that Costco Wholesale's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 7.2% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 10% p.a. growth over the last five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 4.7% per year. Even after the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Costco Wholesale is also expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Additionally, our data suggests that revenue is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have forecasts for Costco Wholesale going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

We also provide an overview of the Costco Wholesale Board and CEO remuneration and length of tenure at the company, and whether insiders have been buying the stock, here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.