Costco(US:COST) ZACKSยท2025-09-25 15:36Economic Data Summary - Q2 GDP was revised up from +3.3% to +3.8%, marking the strongest quarter of growth since Q3 2023 [2] - Consumption saw a significant increase from +1.6% to +2.5%, indicating a stronger appetite among U.S. consumers [3] - The Price Index increased by 10 basis points, with headline at +2.1% and core at +2.6% [3] Job Market Insights - Initial Jobless Claims fell to 218K, down 17K from estimates and 14K from the previous week, reaching the lowest level since mid-summer [4] - Continuing Claims rose slightly to 1.926 million, remaining below 1.94 million for the third consecutive week [5] Durable Goods Orders - August Durable Goods Orders increased by +2.9%, significantly better than the prior month's -2.7% and the consensus estimate of -0.5% [6] - Excluding Transportation orders, the increase was +0.4%, down from +1.0% in the previous month [6] Trade and Inventory Data - The Advanced U.S. Trade Balance for August improved to -$85.5 billion from -$102.8 billion [7] - Advanced Retail Inventories remained unchanged at +0.2%, while Advanced Wholesale Inventories decreased to -0.2% [7] Company Performance Expectations - Costco is expected to report fiscal Q4 results with a projected earnings growth of +12.8% year over year and revenue growth of +8.1% [10] - Costco has outperformed earnings expectations in three of its past four quarters [10]