NEW YORK, Jan 15, 2026, 18:59 EST — After-hours
- Costco shares rose 0.6% to $956.75 in after-hours trading
- Board announces $1.30 quarterly dividend, payable Feb. 13 with a record date set for Jan. 30
- Traders focus on insider sales, a shareholder meeting, and the upcoming monthly sales update
Costco Wholesale Corp shares ticked up 0.6% to $956.75 in after-hours trading Thursday, after fluctuating between $946.55 and $958.29 earlier. About 2.2 million shares changed hands. The warehouse club announced its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.30 per share, payable Feb. 13 to shareholders of record on Jan. 30.
The dividend announcement is standard, but it stands out in a period with scarce new company updates. For Costco, the stock’s movement usually hinges on the strength of its membership-driven traffic and the extent of pricing power it can maintain without hurting sales volume.
Costco’s latest sales report, released earlier this month, revealed December net sales climbed 8.5% to $29.86 billion. Comparable sales—those at locations open at least a year—increased 6.2% when excluding gas and currency impacts. Meanwhile, digitally enabled sales surged 18.3% on the same basis.
Investors noted an insider filing revealing that Executive Vice President James C. Klauer offloaded 1,500 Costco shares on Jan. 14, each priced at $939. He still holds 44,836.994 shares directly.
In late trading, big-box retailers showed a mixed picture. Walmart dropped 0.7%, while Target climbed 1.2%. BJ’s Wholesale Club, meanwhile, dipped 1.1%.
The quarterly dividend of $1.30 is unchanged from the amount Costco announced back in October.
But the dividend leaves unresolved the bigger question about Costco’s valuation and the impact if consumer spending slows. The company has highlighted risks in its filings, pointing to inflation, currency fluctuations, rising employee costs, competition, and tariffs.
Upcoming events are lined up soon. Costco’s shareholder meeting kicks off at 2 p.m. PT this Thursday. January sales numbers will come out Feb. 4, followed by the earnings call on March 5.
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