Costco Stock Pulls Back from Record Before Earnings

Options sentiment has leaned bearish over the last 10 weeks

Laura McCandless

Deputy Editor

May 27, 2026 at 11:53 AM

COST

Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) is set to report fiscal third-quarter earnings after the close on Thursday, May 28. According to Zacks Research, analysts expect earnings of $4.91 per share on revenue of $69.50 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 14.7% and 9.7%, respectively.

The options pits are pricing in a post-earnings swing of 4.4% on Thursday, more than double the stock's historical earnings move of 2% over the last eight quarters. COST has closed only three of its last eight earnings sessions higher, including a 1.6% rise this past March.

On the charts, Costco recently staged a sharp pullback from a May 19 record high of $1,096.50, though the shares continue to find support at their 80-day moving average. Year to date, COST is up 16.8%.

COST May 27

Sentiment in the options pits leans pessimistic ahead of the event. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), COST's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.22 ranks higher than 99% of annual readings.

It's also worth noting that COST's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) comes in at 9 out of 100. In other words, shares have consistently realized lower volatility than options traders have priced in over the past 12 months, making it a premium-selling candidate.

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