Costco reports fiscal first-quarter financial results after the close tomorrow
Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) are 1% higher at $1,003.43 at last glance, and earlier touched an all-time high of $1,007.80. These tailwinds follow a federal judge's decision to block the merger between sector peers Albertsons (ACI) and Kroger (KR), with the former now suing the latter for "billions of dollars" in damages.
This positive price action also takes place before the wholesale retail giant enters the earnings confessional, scheduled to post fiscal first-quarter results after the close tomorrow.
Looking back at the last eight quarters, COST has a mixed history of post-earnings sessions, finishing lower in four, including the last three consecutive. This time around, the options pits are pricing in a 4.7% swing, regardless of direction, which is almost double the 2.9% move the shares averaged over the last two years.
Today's trip to record highs was assisted by Costco stock's 80-day moving average, which has been a stable trendline of support for more than a year. The security is up 63.6% over the last 12 months.
Bulls are betting big ahead of the earnings call. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Costco stock sports a 10-day call/put volume of 1.53 that sits in the 96th percentile of annual readings. This implies a healthier-than-usual appetite for calls over the last two weeks.