Costco Shares Down with Mixed Options Sentiment
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 16 2026
0mins
Mixed options sentiment in Costco (COST), with shares down $2.00 near $954.75. Options volume relatively light with 20k contracts traded and calls leading puts for a put/call ratio of 0.83, compared to a typical level near 1.68. Implied volatility (IV30) dropped 0.32 near 19.38,in the bottom quartile of the past year, suggesting an expected daily move of $11.66. Put-call skew steepened, indicating increased demand for downside protection.
Analyst Views on COST
Wall Street analysts forecast COST stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for COST is 1061 USD with a low forecast of 769.00 USD and a high forecast of 1205 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
24 Analyst Rating
19 Buy
4 Hold
1 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 977.670
Low
769.00
Averages
1061
High
1205
Current: 977.670
Low
769.00
Averages
1061
High
1205
About COST
Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco) operates membership warehouses and e-commerce sites that offer a selection of nationally branded and private-label products in a wide range of categories. The Company buys the majority of its merchandise directly from suppliers and route it to cross-docking consolidation points (depots) or directly to its warehouses. It operates 891 warehouses, including 614 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 108 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 35 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 19 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, seven in China, five in Spain, two in France, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden. It also operates e-commerce sites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. The Company provides wide selection of merchandise, plus the convenience of specialty departments and exclusive member services.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
