Costco Wholesale Corporation Strong/Consistent Trends; Key Mgmt Takes; July Electronics Slowdown on Signs of Demand Pullforward/Elasticity; BBY Lateral

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

North America Equity Research

05 August 2026

Costco Wholesale Corporation

Strong/Consistent Trends; Key Mgmt Takes; July

Electronics Slowdown on Signs of Demand Pullforward/

Elasticity; BBY Lateral

US core comps strong yet marginally below Street. Overall, U.S. core comp came

in at +6.9%, marginally below the Street’s +7.1% per Consensus Metrix but ahead of

our +6.5%. U.S. and total enterprise-wide traffic were up +3.3% and +3.6%,

respectively, while average ticket was up +2.9% YOY (ex-gas deflation and FX).

Canada core comps came in above the Street at +4.9% (vs. +4.0% consensus), while

Other International came in at +6.6% (Street in-line). Comp ex. all gas sales and FX

impact was +6.7%. The best-performing regions in the U.S. were the Midwest,

Southeast, and San Diego. International was led by Taiwan, Korea, and China. The

cannibalization headwind in July was ~60 bps (vs. 50 bps in June, 60 bps in May and

40 bps in April and March). Digitally enabled comps were +18.2% ex-FX.

Overweight

COST, COST US

Price (05 Aug 26):$941.99

Retailing – Broadlines & Hardlines /

Leisure

Christopher Horvers, CFA AC

(1-212) 622-1316

Christian Carlino, CFA

(1-212) 622-9145

Jolie Wasserman

(1-212) 622-1961

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Key management takeaways/conclusions: (1) Labor Day Shift (9/7/26 this year

vs. 9/1/25 last year). The last time this week shift occurred in 2020, COST called out

a 75-bp US impact to August sales and a ~50-bp impact to global comps. (ii) Majors

drops off the “best of’ list for non-foods on potential computing and phone

pullforward. COST noted that its appliances performance and share gains in July

remained strong and the reason why overall “majors” slowed from June was due to

a slowdown in computing, tablets, and phones. June’s strength may have been due to

demand pullforward on expected price increases while category inflation now

appears to be hurting volumes. Recall, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook announced on June

17th that price increases were “unavoidable” due to surging memory and storage costs.

We have feared that this news story could lead to demand pullforward and then result

…