Costco Wholesale will report fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results on Thursday, September 24, after the US market closes, with a conference call scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Pacific time (5:00 p.m. Eastern, 21:00 UTC), according to the company’s investor relations calendar. Unusually for a large retailer, the top line is already public: Costco disclosed on September 2 that net sales for the 16-week quarter reached $93.9 billion, up 11.3% from $84.4 billion a year earlier, and that fiscal-year net sales climbed 10.2% to $297.3 billion. What the September 24 release adds is everything beneath that line: gross margin, membership fee income, renewal rates, net income and the per-share figure that Wall Street will compare against a consensus in the mid-$6.50s.
The quarter closes a fiscal year defined by three forces that pulled in different directions. Gasoline inflation, driven by disruption to Middle East supply, flattered reported comparable sales while diluting the margin rate. Tariff refunds, following the Supreme Court’s February ruling against the IEEPA duties, began flowing back to importers and, in Costco’s case, into shelf prices. And the membership fee increase of September 2024 finished anniversarying, so fee income growth in the back half of the year reflects member additions and Executive upgrades rather than a pricing step-up. Investors, per coverage from Motley Fool and Trader Central, have kept the stock to a roughly 6% gain this year against a 12% rise for the S&P 500, and the shares trade near 50 times trailing earnings, which leaves little room for a soft margin print.
In short
- Date and time: Costco reports Q4 and fiscal 2026 results on September 24, 2026, after the close, with the call at 2:00 p.m. PT, per the company’s investor relations calendar.
- Sales are known: Q4 net sales were $93.9 billion (+11.3%) and fiscal-year net sales $297.3 billion (+10.2%), disclosed on September 2 with the August sales report.
- The EPS bar: consensus estimates compiled ahead of the report cluster around $6.51 to $6.56 per diluted share, against $5.87 in Q4 fiscal 2025, implying growth of roughly 11%.
- Gas is the swing factor: reported Q4 comparable sales of 9.4% shrink to 6.7% once gasoline prices and currency are stripped out, so gross margin rate and ex-gas margin commentary matter more than the headline comp.
- Three live storylines: how much of the roughly one-third of expected IEEPA tariff refunds Costco has received is reaching prices, whether renewal rates hold at 92.2% in the US and Canada, and the abrupt end of the Costco Next marketplace plus rationing of Kirkland motor oil.
What exactly is Costco reporting on September 24?
Costco runs a 52-week fiscal year that ends on the Sunday closest to August 31, split into three 12-week quarters and one 16-week fourth quarter. Fiscal 2026 ended on August 30, 2026. The September 24 release therefore covers 16 weeks of operations plus the full 52-week year, and the comparison base is the 16 weeks ended August 31, 2025, when the company earned $2.610 billion, or $5.87 per diluted share, on net sales of $84.4 billion.
Because Costco reports monthly sales, the revenue element of the quarter carries almost no surprise. The August 2026 sales release put fourth-quarter net sales at $93.9 billion and disclosed comparable sales by region and channel. The unknowns are membership fee revenue (which was $1.724 billion in the year-ago quarter), gross margin, selling, general and administrative expense as a share of sales, interest income, the tax rate and therefore net income and EPS. The company also typically updates paid member counts, Executive membership penetration, renewal rates, capital spending and the warehouse opening plan for the new fiscal year on the call.
Why the fourth quarter is different from the other three
The 16-week structure matters for anyone comparing Costco with peers that report 13-week quarters. On a like-for-like basis, Costco’s fourth quarter contains one third more trading days than its first three quarters, which is why net sales of $93.9 billion sit far above the $69.15 billion recorded in the third quarter even though the underlying run rate is similar. It also means that a single percentage point of gross margin is worth roughly $940 million of gross profit in Q4, versus about $690 million in a 12-week quarter, which amplifies the earnings impact of any margin movement.
How did fiscal 2026 build toward this quarter?
The fiscal year accelerated as it went. First-quarter net sales grew 8.2%, the second quarter 9.1%, the third quarter 11.6% and the fourth quarter 11.3%. Part of that acceleration is real volume: adjusted comparable sales, which strip out gasoline prices and foreign exchange, held in a narrow 6.4% to 6.7% band all year, an unusually steady performance for a retailer of this scale. The rest of the acceleration is gasoline. As pump prices rose through the spring and summer, the gap between reported and adjusted comps widened from zero in the first quarter to more than three percentage points in the third.
| Fiscal 2026 quarter | Weeks | Net sales | Growth | Total comps (reported) | Total comps (adjusted) | Digital comps | Diluted EPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (to Nov 23, 2025) | 12 | $65.98bn | +8.2% | 6.4% | 6.4% | 20.5% | $4.50 |
| Q2 (to Feb 15, 2026) | 12 | $68.24bn | +9.1% | 7.4% | 6.7% | 22.6% | $4.58 |
| Q3 (to May 10, 2026) | 12 | $69.15bn | +11.6% | 9.8% | 6.6% | 21.5% | $4.93 |
| Q4 (to Aug 30, 2026) | 16 | $93.9bn | +11.3% | 9.4% | 6.7% | 19.5% | ~$6.54 (consensus) |
Sources: Costco quarterly operating results releases and the August 2026 sales release; Q4 EPS is a consensus estimate cited by Trader Central, not a company figure. Adjusted comps exclude gasoline price changes and foreign exchange.
Year-to-date through 36 weeks, Costco had earned $6.228 billion, or $14.01 per diluted share, on net sales of $203.4 billion. Add a Q4 print in line with consensus and fiscal 2026 EPS would land a little above $20.50, compared with $18.21 in fiscal 2025. The first-quarter figure included a $72 million tax benefit from stock-based compensation, worth $0.16 per share, which the company called out as a discrete item; the year-ago fourth quarter carried no comparable one-off, according to the fiscal 2025 release.
The comp story by region
For the 16-week fourth quarter, US comparable sales rose 10.7% reported and 7.2% adjusted, Canada 5.0% reported and 4.6% adjusted, and Other International 7.0% reported and 6.2% adjusted. The US figure is the standout: it accelerated from 5.9% reported in the first two quarters to 9.4% in Q3 and 10.7% in Q4, and even the adjusted US number of 7.2% is the strongest of the year. Canada slowed sharply on a reported basis, from 10.7% in Q3 to 5.0% in Q4, although the adjusted Canadian comp of 4.6% sits much closer to the reported number than in prior quarters, which points to currency and gasoline effects rather than a collapse in underlying demand.
August itself was softer than the quarter as a whole. Total comps for the four weeks ended August 30 were 8.4% reported and 5.4% adjusted, with US adjusted comps at 5.6%. Costco noted that the timing of Labor Day, which fell inside the comparable period last year but not this year, cost the month a little under 75 basis points of growth. Analysts will want to know whether the September run rate, due in the next monthly sales release in early October, recovered that shortfall.
Why does the gasoline effect matter so much this quarter?
Costco sells gasoline at a thin margin as a traffic driver, and it reports gasoline within net sales and comparable sales. When pump prices rise, reported sales and comps inflate without a corresponding increase in gross profit dollars, so the gross margin rate falls mechanically. In the third quarter, gross margin was 11.04%, down 21 basis points from a year earlier, and chief financial officer Gary Millerchip told analysts that management’s focus is on gross margin excluding gasoline inflation, with the reported figure also reflecting deliberate investment in member value on everyday prices and at the pump. The company reported record gasoline volumes in Q3.
The fourth quarter saw the pressure intensify. The Associated Press reported on September 14 that Brent crude had exceeded $109 a barrel, US gasoline averaged $4.32 a gallon and diesel had hit record highs above $6.23, all linked to disrupted Middle East supply following the Iran conflict and damage to a Saudi pipeline. That backdrop is consistent with the 270-basis-point gap between Costco’s reported and adjusted Q4 comps. It also feeds directly into the wider consumer picture that the Census Bureau’s August retail sales report on September 16 was set to quantify, where record gasoline station receipts were expected to mask weaker discretionary spending.
What a clean margin print would look like
Two numbers will frame the margin debate. The first is the reported gross margin rate versus 11.0% to 11.1% in recent quarters; a reading below 10.9% would likely be read as gasoline dilution plus price investment, while anything above 11.1% would suggest the core business more than offset the fuel drag. The second is Millerchip’s ex-gas margin commentary, which the company provides verbally rather than in the release. In Q3 the company also flagged higher healthcare costs and legal settlements within SG&A, yet still improved the SG&A rate by 20 basis points to 8.96% on sales leverage. A repeat of that leverage in a 16-week quarter with 11% sales growth would go a long way toward covering any gross margin shortfall.
What will membership numbers tell investors?
Membership fees are Costco’s most important profit line even though they are a small share of revenue. In fiscal 2025, fee income was $5.323 billion against operating income of $10.383 billion, meaning fees accounted for roughly half of operating profit. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, fee income grew 10.7% to $1.373 billion, and the year-ago Q4 figure was $1.724 billion, so a similar growth rate would put Q4 fee income near $1.9 billion. The September 2024 fee increase to $65 for Gold Star and $130 for Executive lapped in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, so the growth now on show is organic.
The company ended Q3 with 82.9 million paid members, up 4.1% year on year, and 41.2 million paid Executive members, up 9.6%. Renewal rates were 92.2% in the US and Canada, up 10 basis points from the prior quarter, and 89.7% worldwide, unchanged. Trader Central’s preview argued that the renewal rate and digital comps outweigh any EPS surprise for the stock’s reaction, a view consistent with how shares have traded on past reports. A US and Canada renewal rate that holds at or above 92.2% would confirm that the fee increase did not cause attrition; any slip below 92% would be the first meaningful dent in that metric since the increase.
Executive penetration and the 2% reward
Executive members pay double the base fee and receive a 2% annual reward on qualifying purchases, and they now make up just under half of all paid members. That mix shift is the quiet engine behind fee income growth, because each upgrade adds $65 of annual revenue at essentially no cost. Costco has also extended Executive-only perks, including earlier warehouse opening hours in the US, to widen the gap between tiers. The Q4 release will show whether the Executive count crossed 42 million and whether the growth rate held near double digits.
How do tariff refunds show up in Costco’s numbers?
The Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026, that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were unlawful, opening the door to refunds that industry estimates have put as high as $168 billion across all importers. US Customs and Border Protection has been processing those refunds through its CAPE system in phases, and as of late August Costco had received roughly one third of the refunds it expects, according to CFO Dive. Chief executive Ron Vachris told analysts on the May earnings call that the company’s plan is to return to members, in some form, the portion of tariffs that had been passed on to them, and the company has since said it started returning that recovered value through lower prices on selected products rather than direct rebates.
Two things follow for the September 24 release. First, if refunds are booked as a reduction in merchandise costs in the period received, they could lift Q4 gross margin, partly offsetting the gasoline drag; analysts will want the company to quantify how much refund income landed in the quarter and how much was reinvested in price. Second, the timing of the remaining two thirds depends on CBP’s pace, which has drawn political pressure: ten House Democrats pressed CBP on September 9 to fix account backlogs before importers run out of time to file. Costco has not disclosed the total refund it expects.
The Stockov class action
Costco is also defending a lawsuit filed in March 2026 by an Illinois customer, Matthew Stockov, who argues that members who paid tariff-inflated prices are entitled to a share of the refunds. The complaint alleges consumer-fraud violations and unjust enrichment. In an August filing reported by CFO Dive, Costco argued that the plaintiff lacks standing and that the claims are not ripe because the alleged injury remains hypothetical until the company receives all relevant refunds, and that the complaint fails to identify specific products purchased. FedEx faces a similar suit. The case is unlikely to feature in the earnings release but could surface in the 10-K’s legal proceedings section, which Costco typically files within weeks of the results.
Where does Costco stand against Walmart, Sam’s Club, BJ’s and Kroger?
Costco’s fourth quarter overlaps with results already reported by its closest peers, which gives investors a benchmark. Walmart, which owns Sam’s Club, reported its own quarter in August and directed $2.9 billion of tariff refunds into price cuts while posting its weakest US comparable sales growth in six years. BJ’s Wholesale, the East Coast club operator, reported its second quarter on August 21 against a $5.89 billion sales bar that this site previewed in its BJ’s Q2 earnings preview. Against those numbers, Costco’s 6.7% adjusted comp for a 16-week period stands out as the strongest organic growth in the US mass and club channel.
The membership fee ladder also shifted this year. Sam’s Club raised its annual fees on May 1, 2026, to $60 for the base tier and $120 for Plus, up from $50 and $110, according to CNBC, bringing it level with BJ’s and within $5 of Costco’s $65 Gold Star fee at the entry level. That narrows the price gap that Sam’s Club had used as a differentiator and makes Costco’s renewal rate an even more important indicator of pricing power.
| Warehouse club | Base membership | Premium membership | Premium reward | Latest fee change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costco | $65 (Gold Star) | $130 (Executive) | 2% annual reward | September 1, 2024 |
| Sam’s Club (Walmart) | $60 (Club) | $120 (Plus) | 2% Sam’s Cash | May 1, 2026 (from $50/$110) |
| BJ’s Wholesale | $60 (Club Card) | $120 (Club+) | 2% back on most purchases | January 2025 |
Sources: company websites and CNBC reporting on the Sam’s Club increase. Reward terms are summarised and subject to each club’s exclusions.
Grocery context: Kroger’s slowdown versus Costco’s acceleration
Food and sundries make up the largest share of Costco’s sales, so the traditional supermarket backdrop matters. Kroger, the largest conventional US grocer, cut its 2026 sales outlook on September 11 after identical sales excluding fuel grew just 0.2%, even as its earnings beat expectations. That contrast, a supermarket comp near zero against a club comp near 7% on an adjusted basis, is the clearest evidence yet that value-seeking shoppers are consolidating trips into bulk formats as gasoline and food costs rise. Costco’s Q3 release cited lower margins in fresh and food and sundries, however, indicating that it is buying some of that share with price.
What happened with Costco Next and Kirkland motor oil?
Two operational stories from the past month are likely to come up on the call. The first is Costco Next, the curated online marketplace launched in 2017 that let members buy direct from roughly a few dozen participating brands at member-only discounts of up to 40% on items generally not stocked in warehouses. At the end of August the program disappeared without an announcement; links to participating storefronts began returning a notice that access to Costco Next storefronts is no longer available, according to Fast Company, USA Today and other outlets. Costco did not give a reason. The shutdown removes a small but visible experiment in third-party e-commerce at a moment when digitally enabled comps are still growing near 20%, and analysts may ask whether the company is refocusing on its own site, app and same-day channels.
The second is Kirkland Signature motor oil. The Associated Press reported on September 14 that Costco had roughly doubled the price of its Kirkland full-synthetic 5-quart two-pack to about $58 from about $30 a year earlier and imposed a limit of two boxes per member per week, with a separate five-unit cap on Mobil 1. The cause is a shortage of Group III base oils, of which the US imports more than 40% from the Middle East, aggravated by the same supply disruption that lifted crude above $109. Costco did not respond to the AP’s request for comment. While motor oil is a tiny category, the episode is a reminder that specific supply shocks can still force a retailer built on stable everyday pricing to ration and reprice.
Kirkland as a tariff and inflation shield
Kirkland Signature is central to Costco’s response to both tariffs and commodity inflation. Management has described leaning into the private label and shifting sourcing countries as its main mitigation tools, and Millerchip has said raising prices is a last resort. The motor oil rationing therefore cuts against the brand’s usual role. Investors will listen for whether management frames it as an isolated commodity event or as part of a broader cost wave in petroleum-derived goods, which would include plastics, packaging and some household chemicals.
What does the store network and capital plan look like heading into fiscal 2027?
Costco operated 939 warehouses at the end of fiscal 2026, including 647 in the US and Puerto Rico, up from 914 a year earlier, a net addition of 25. The company had guided to capital expenditure of about $6.5 billion for fiscal 2026, and spent $1.41 billion in the third quarter alone. On the Q3 call Vachris pointed to growth opportunities in China, Korea, Japan and Europe, singling out France and Spain. The Q4 call is where the company typically sets the opening target for the new fiscal year; a figure in the high twenties to low thirties would be consistent with recent years.
| Metric | Q4 fiscal 2025 (16 weeks to Aug 31, 2025) | Q4 fiscal 2026 (16 weeks to Aug 30, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $84.4bn | $93.9bn (reported Sept 2) |
| Membership fees | $1.724bn | Due Sept 24 |
| Total company comps (reported / adjusted) | 5.7% / 6.4% | 9.4% / 6.7% |
| US comps (reported / adjusted) | 5.1% / 6.0% | 10.7% / 7.2% |
| Digital comps (reported / adjusted) | 13.6% / 13.5% | 19.5% / 19.8% |
| Net income | $2.610bn | Due Sept 24 |
| Diluted EPS | $5.87 | Consensus $6.51–$6.56 |
| Warehouses at quarter end | 914 | 939 |
Sources: Costco fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026 results releases; consensus per Trader Central.
Digital and same-day
Digitally enabled comparable sales grew 19.5% in the fourth quarter and 20.9% for the full year, only modestly slower than the 21.5% posted in Q3. On the Q3 call the company reported a 37% rise in e-commerce and app traffic. Costco’s digital business remains a fraction of Walmart’s or Amazon’s, but growth at four times the rate of warehouse comps is steadily lifting its share of the mix, with the app and same-day grocery delivery through Instacart and Uber Eats among the channels the company has highlighted.
How has the stock behaved, and what is priced in?
Costco shares have lagged the market this year. Motley Fool put the gain at about 6% through mid-September against roughly 12% for the S&P 500, and noted the stock trades close to 50 times trailing earnings. Trader Central’s options analysis found that the implied move around Costco’s earnings typically lands in the 2.6% to 3.4% range, small for a company reporting a $94 billion quarter, and that Costco has beaten consensus EPS in five consecutive quarters. Jim Cramer, per Yahoo Finance coverage in early September, argued the valuation is no longer justified as membership growth cools, while some analyst commentary has floated price targets above $1,100.
That set-up means the reaction is likely to hinge on the second-order numbers rather than the EPS beat itself. A gross margin at or above 11% with renewal rates steady and a clear statement on tariff refund reinvestment would likely be read as a clean quarter. A margin miss blamed on gasoline, coupled with any softening in the US renewal rate, would test the premium multiple. Costco does not give formal guidance, so the tone of Millerchip’s commentary on September comps, healthcare costs and the pace of price investment will substitute for a forecast.
The early-October follow-through
Costco’s next monthly sales release, covering the five weeks of September, is due in early October, roughly two weeks after the earnings call. Because the Q4 release will already have shown whether August’s Labor Day shift depressed the month, the September figure will confirm or contradict any recovery management points to on the call. Investors weighing the stock’s reaction on September 25 will have that second data point within a fortnight.
Frequently asked questions
When is Costco’s Q4 2026 earnings release?
Costco will report fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results on Thursday, September 24, 2026, after the US market close, with a conference call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time (5:00 p.m. Eastern), according to the events calendar on investor.costco.com.
What are analysts expecting for Costco’s Q4 EPS?
Consensus estimates cited by Trader Central put Q4 fiscal 2026 diluted EPS in a range of $6.51 to $6.56, compared with $5.87 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. Costco has beaten consensus EPS in five straight quarters.
Do we already know Costco’s Q4 sales?
Yes. Costco reported on September 2 that net sales for the 16-week fourth quarter were $93.9 billion, up 11.3%, and that fiscal-year net sales were $297.3 billion, up 10.2%. The September 24 release adds membership fees, margins, net income and EPS.
Why are Costco’s reported comps so much higher than adjusted comps?
Costco includes gasoline sales in its comparable sales. With Brent crude above $109 and US gasoline averaging around $4.32 a gallon in September, higher pump prices lifted reported Q4 comps to 9.4% while adjusted comps excluding gasoline and currency were 6.7%.
How much of the IEEPA tariff refund has Costco received?
According to CFO Dive, Costco had received roughly one third of the refunds it expects as of late August 2026. The company has said it is returning the recovered value to members through lower prices on some products rather than direct rebates.
What is Costco’s membership renewal rate?
At the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2026, the renewal rate was 92.2% in the US and Canada and 89.7% worldwide. Costco had 82.9 million paid members, including 41.2 million paid Executive members.
What happened to Costco Next?
Costco Next, the curated third-party marketplace launched in 2017, was shut down at the end of August 2026 without an announcement. Participating storefront links now display a notice that access is no longer available. Costco has not given a reason.
Why is Costco limiting motor oil purchases?
The Associated Press reported on September 14 that Costco raised the price of its Kirkland Signature full-synthetic 5-quart two-pack to about $58 from about $30 a year earlier and limited purchases to two boxes per week, citing a shortage of Group III base oils linked to disrupted Middle East supply.
How many warehouses does Costco operate?
Costco operated 939 warehouses at the end of fiscal 2026, including 647 in the United States and Puerto Rico, up from 914 a year earlier. The company had guided to about $6.5 billion of capital expenditure for the year.
Costco’s Q4 fiscal 2026 earnings call webcast will be available on the company’s investor relations events page.