NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 19:53 ET
Costco Wholesale shares edged lower in thin year-end trading on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to the retailer’s next update: a monthly sales report due in early January.
The move was modest, but the timing matters. Costco’s December sales snapshot will be one of the first reads on holiday-season demand as investors recalibrate expectations for U.S. consumers in 2026.
With liquidity lighter into the year-end break, smaller orders can move prices more than usual. Investors are also weighing how quickly interest rates may fall, a backdrop that can sway valuation-sensitive consumer and retail stocks.
Costco shares were down $1.28, or about 0.1%, at $864.37 in afternoon trading, after moving between $862.25 and $867.76 earlier in the session. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF was down about 0.3%, while the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF slipped about 0.2%; Walmart was down about 0.2% and BJ’s Wholesale traded higher.
Tuesday’s trading had a similar tone. Costco shares were down about 0.5% late morning, while investors waited for U.S. central bank minutes and navigated holiday-thinned volumes.
“I wouldn’t try to make too much out of anything that happens in a holiday-shortened week,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth. TechStock²
On the macro front, the Federal Reserve released minutes from its Dec. 9–10 policy meeting on Tuesday. The minutes are a detailed account of policymakers’ debate and can shift expectations for the path of interest rates.
The record showed some officials viewed the rate decision as closely balanced, highlighting how sensitive markets remain to incoming inflation and labor data.
For Costco, the next scheduled catalyst is its December sales release on Jan. 7 at 1:15 p.m. PT, according to the company’s investor calendar.
Monthly sales releases typically highlight net sales and comparable sales, a key retail metric that tracks revenue at stores open at least a year. Investors also watch online demand and whether traffic growth is holding up as price pressures and borrowing costs shape consumer behavior.
Costco’s most recent quarterly report showed steady momentum. The company said fiscal first-quarter net sales rose 8.2% to $65.98 billion, while total comparable sales rose 6.4% and digitally enabled comparable sales climbed 20.5%; net income was $2.00 billion, or $4.50 per share.
The stock’s long-term run is also back in focus as the company nears four decades as a public firm. Costco’s investor FAQs show it went public on Dec. 5, 1985 at $10 a share before splits, an initial price that works out to about $1.67 after splits; at Wednesday’s price near $862, a simple $100 IPO investment would be worth roughly $52,000 today, excluding dividends. (Related: )
