This year, as the market is preoccupied with how the Iran war is propping up the energy sector and how the memory chip shortage has been driving the AI rally, there has been little focus on consumer discretionary stocks' underperformance.
In 2026, consumer discretionary remains among the weakest S&.... |
Good MorningU.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq snapping three-day losing streaks as chip stocks recovered from a recent sell-off. The mood improved as renewed buying in semiconductors supported the market, though the central tension remained AI demand versus profitability across the broader technology sector.
Analysts pointed to stronger interest in chip names, with AI demand and open-source models expected to support memory demand. AI-related stocks helped lift the S&P 500, while small-cap momentum also stayed in focus. Software stocks remained under pressure after downgrades of Adobe and Salesforce reinforced concerns that AI competition could erode parts of the sector. ServiceNow drew more positive attention ahead of earnings, with analysts seeing potential for solid subscription results and a guidance increase.
Tesla remained a key watch, with options markets pricing in a large post-earnings move. Halliburton fell despite an earnings beat as weaker Middle East activity weighed on revenue. Paramount Skydance slipped after a judge temporarily paused its proposed deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. Coinbase and Cipher Mining rose amid optimism around crypto legislation. Traders are watching earnings from Tesla and ServiceNow for the next catalyst. Featured: Here’s the REAL state of the US dollar (Ad) 
| Consumer Discretionary | |
This year, as the market is preoccupied with how the Iran war is propping up the energy sector and how the memory chip shortage has been driving the AI rally, there has been little focus on consumer discretionary stocks' underperformance.
In 2026, consumer discretionary remains among the weakest S&... Read the Full Story |
| From Our Partners | | Gold major acquisitions have repriced junior miners overnight, with past deals delivering gains from 40% to 1,228.6% for shareholders of companies like G2 Goldfields, Loncor Gold, and Rupert Resources.
Analyst Garrett Goggin, CFA, CMT, tracks which small miners hold the grade, cash flow, and assets that attract buyout interest from major producers.
One quarter of his tracked portfolio has already been acquired as the gold bull market's M and A phase accelerates. | | See Garrett Goggin's top three potential gold buyout targets now |
| Industrials | |
Modern infantry doctrine is undergoing a rapid, radical rewrite in front of investors. If investors watch how global conflicts are playing out today, they see a clear departure from heavy, slow-moving legacy armor. The physical economy of defense is heavily shifting toward agile, autonomous platfor... Read the Full Story |
| Industrials | |
3M (NYSE: MMM) delivered a beat-and-raise quarter before the market opened on July 21. The initial reaction from investors is bullish, with the stock surging 9% after trading began. The earnings beat was more of the same for a company that’s taken many steps to improve efficiency in the past 12 mon... Read the Full Story |
| From Our Partners | | Each morning, the Wave Software scans the market for stocks quietly building momentum over days or weeks, then narrows the list to a single name showing signs of an imminent move.
From there, it outlines specific options criteria designed to match that potential move, giving traders a complete setup before the market opens.
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| Technology | |
All of a sudden, photonics seems to be one of the hottest fields among tech enthusiasts. Optical and photonics technology is massively important for AI applications that must field tremendous data throughput that exceeds the limits of traditional wiring. With photonics, data can be zipped through f... Read the Full Story |
| Industrials | |
Some of the world’s largest players in the industrials and utilities sectors are boosting their dividends. Their dividend increases come alongside solid to strong share price performance in 2026, with multiple names also benefiting from demand tied to data centers and industrial infrastructure. Two... Read the Full Story |
| | Markets | |
The performance of the U.S. stock market has been solid so far in 2026. After being down as much as 7% through late March, the S&P 500 Index has rebounded sharply. Overall, the index’s total return on the year sits near 10%. From 2015 to 2025, the index’s average annual return was approximately... Read the Full Story |
| Technology | |
IREN Limited (NASDAQ: IREN) recently sent a signal to the broader equity markets. A $2.8 billion contract haul does not just change a quarterly earnings trajectory.
It entirely rewrites the fundamental valuation matrix of the underlying business. IREN’s stock price jumped nearly 20% on the news, er... Read the Full Story |
| Communication Services | |
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is in the midst of one of its most consequential weeks of the year, and it started with a bang. On Monday, July 20, it was reported that the company is developing a new AI chip, internally dubbed Frozen v2, designed to run its Gemini models dramatically more efficiently. Th... Read the Full Story |
| Technology | |
For the better part of the current artificial intelligence (AI) supercycle, enterprise infrastructure has operated under a strict single-vendor hardware monopoly. Cloud providers and hyper-scalers had little choice but to buy their accelerator chip from a single dominant supplier, paying premium pr... Read the Full Story |
| Finance | |
The property and casualty insurance sector is undergoing a distinct shift. After a seven-year "hard market"—a stretch of aggressive rate hikes and tightening coverage—pricing is beginning to soften across the sector.
That leaves many carriers in a precarious position. During the boom, some operator... Read the Full Story |
| Wednesday's Early Bird Stock Of The Day Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. It offers merchandise, such as sundries, dry groceries, candies, coolers, freezers, deli, liquor, and tobacco; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, garden and patio products, sporting goods, tires, toys and seasonal products, office supplies, automotive care products, postages, tickets, apparel, small appliances, furniture, domestics, housewares, special order kiosks, and jewelry; and meat, produce, service deli, and bakery products. The company also operates gasoline, pharmacies, optical, food courts, hearing-aid centers, and tire installation centers; and offers business delivery, travel, grocery, and various other services online. It also operates e-commerce websites. The company was formerly known as Costco Companies, Inc. and changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999. Costco Wholesale Corporation was founded in 1976 and is based in Issaquah, Washington. | Should I Buy Costco Wholesale Stock? COST Bull and Bear Case Explained
These insights were generated using artificial intelligence. They are based on proprietary MarketBeat data, news articles, and custom LLM A.I. algorithms. This analysis of Costco Wholesale was last updated on Thursday, September 03, 2026 at 6:05 PM.
Costco Wholesale Bull Case -
Costco reported strong August net sales of $23.70 billion, which increased 9.9% year over year, while fourth-quarter sales rose 11.3% to $93.9 billion, demonstrating robust top-line growth that supports the company's valuation.
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Analysts at BTIG Research reaffirmed a Buy rating with a price target of $1,125.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.6% from the current stock price of $925.41, reflecting confidence in the retailer's resilient core performance and market-share gains.
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The company's fiscal-year sales increased 10.2% to $297.3 billion, with total comparable sales growing 8.4% and digitally enabled sales climbing 20.9%, indicating that Costco is successfully expanding its membership base and e-commerce capabilities without altering its fundamental business model.
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Costco's recent earnings results showed actual EPS of $4.93, slightly exceeding the consensus estimate of $4.94, and actual revenue of $70.527 billion, which surpassed the consensus revenue of $70.122 billion, highlighting the company's ability to consistently meet or exceed financial expectations.
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With a beta of 0.87, Costco exhibits lower volatility compared to the broader market, making it a potentially stable investment for investors seeking to reduce portfolio risk while still participating in the growth of a leading consumer staples retailer.
Costco Wholesale Bear Case -
The US Department of Justice has expanded its antitrust investigation into beef pricing, requesting detailed records from Costco regarding costs, margins, and supply-chain arrangements, which creates potential legal, regulatory, and reputational risks for the company.
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Costco abruptly discontinued its curated online marketplace, Costco Next, which may disappoint members and raise questions about the service's contribution to customer engagement and e-commerce growth, potentially impacting the company's digital strategy.
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Despite strong sales, the stock has experienced recent declines, trading down $3.07 to $925.41, and is currently below its 50-day simple moving average of $944.65 and 200-day simple moving average of $978.84, suggesting short-term bearish momentum.
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Insider selling has been notable, with Director Kenneth Denman selling 885 shares at an average price of $957.45 and EVP Claudine Adamo selling 730 shares at $1,003.02, which could signal a lack of confidence from company insiders in the current stock price.
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Costco's P/E ratio of 46.55 is relatively high, indicating that investors are paying a premium for the company's earnings, which may limit upside potential if growth slows or if the market re-evaluates the stock's valuation.
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