Warehouse chain Costco Wholesale (COST) posted an 8.6% growth in its net sales to $25.51 billion for the retail month of March (ended April 6, 2025). The robust growth in last month’s top line came in despite macro challenges and concerns about tariff wars. Costco stock has advanced 5.3% year to date and has risen more than 34% over the past year.
Costco Achieves Strong Growth Across All Segments
Costco’s March top-line growth was driven by strong comparable sales across its key segments. The company’s comparable sales increased 6.4%, fueled by 7.5% and 4.1% growth in the U.S. and Canada, respectively.
Further, comparable sales from the Other International segment increased 2.9% in March. Moreover, e-commerce comparable sales grew 16.2% year over year.
Costco’s robust March sales numbers reflected that customers continued to make purchases to leverage the value deals offered by the warehouse chain. The company attributed about 1.5% of its March net sales and comparable sales growth to one additional shopping day in the month due to the calendar shift of Easter.
William Blair Analyst Reacts Positively to Costco’s March Update
Following the March update, William Blair analyst Phillip Blee reiterated a Buy rating on Costco stock. The analyst noted that Costco’s March comparable sales grew by 9.1%, excluding the impact of forex headwinds and changes in gasoline prices.
He also highlighted continued expansion in Costco’s footprint, with 27 new warehouses added during the period. Costco currently operates 903 warehouses, including 623 in the U.S.
Is Costco Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Overall, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Costco Wholesale stock based on 20 Buys and six Holds. The average COST stock price target of $1,085.12 implies 12.4% upside potential from current levels.
