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Analyst
Jiang Ma
Period: Reporting periods mapped to calendar 2024 Q4 – 2026 Q2 (7 quarters).
- Questions
- 7on tracked calls
- Challenge rate
- 29%2 of 7 questionsLimited sample
- Companies
- 1questioned at least once
- Reporting periods
- 7with questions
These figures cover the whole profile: every tracked question, all reporting periods.
How to read these numbers
Challenge rate is the share of questions that pushed back, pressed for specifics or questioned management’s assumptions. It describes how questions were asked on the calls tracked here; it does not measure whether any view turned out to be right.
Rounding. Rates are rounded to whole percentages, so a small share can show as 0% even when some questions were challenging. The count beside each rate is exact; “none of N questions” means no question was challenging.
No questions recorded. “—” means there is nothing to calculate: no questions were recorded for that period on the calls tracked here. It does not mean there was no activity.
Fewer than 3 questions. A company-level rate is withheld when fewer than 3 questions were recorded for that company; the questions are still counted everywhere else.
Small samples. Profiles with fewer than 10 questions are marked Limited sample.
Reporting periods. Questions are grouped by the calendar quarter each company’s fiscal reporting period maps to, not by the date of the call. Periods without a calendar mapping are listed separately under their fiscal label.
Questions asked
Grouped by company, most questions first. Open a company to read its questions, newest reporting period first.
Showing 7 of 7 questions from 1 company
COSTCostco Wholesale Corporation7 questions · 7 reporting periods · 2 of 7 challenging
Calendar 2026 Q2
it looks like traffic was kind of below the historical trend at least for the first part of Q3
Show response
Gary framed 2.2% traffic growth as healthy normalization over two years (baskets up, traffic moderating) and noted tariff stock-up distorted monthly data.
Calendar 2026 Q1
specifically China, where growth seems to have stalled a bit recently, where I'm sure you're facing some pretty strong
Show response
Ron pushed back on the stall framing and said China is following the same measured customary playbook Costco has used in Japan, Korea and Europe, a deliberate learn-the-culture period before scaling, and expressed confidence the model competes effectively against local and Sam's Club competition.
Calendar 2025 Q4
on the nonfood side of things, I think your comp is now in the mid single digit percentage range
Show response
Gary declined to give forward commentary but confirmed gold and gift-card lapping is driving the deceleration, with double-digit growth still in gold/jewelry/special events/health & beauty and high single-digit in majors/tires/small appliances.
Calendar 2025 Q3
on the membership fee side where you I think Gary mentioned it's 7% growth excluding the price increase
Show response
Gary said continued growth should come from new warehouse openings, younger digital sign-ups, maturation of international warehouses, and new benefits like extended hours, Instacart credit and the 5% cash rewards card.
Calendar 2025 Q2
I wanted to follow-up on your LIFO comment. Clearly, a lot of your peers use remit inventory accounting
Show response
Gary gave a detailed LIFO walk: the $130M Q3 charge is a true-up to an estimated $145M full-year charge, with another $40-50M expected in Q4 at current inflation.
Calendar 2025 Q1
Is there any timing shifts between January and February to lead to this sequential slowdown in the other international
Show response
Gary attributed the Feb international step-down to Chinese New Year timing and laid out a 25-30 store roadmap split roughly US/international.
Calendar 2024 Q4
Can you help us break it out and understand the difference in online behaviors? And the second part on the retail media side
Show response
Gary explained digital sign-ups renew at slightly lower rates with an 18-month lag. On Costco Next and retail media, Ron said it's too early to determine implications.
Challenge rate by company
Every company this analyst questioned, most questions first. A company-level rate is shown from 3 questions; below that it is withheld.
| Company | Questions | Challenge rate |
|---|---|---|
| COST Costco Wholesale Corporation | 7 | 29%2 of 7 questions |
- COSTCostco Wholesale Corporation · 7 questions29%2 of 7 questions
Activity by reporting period
Questions recorded for each calendar quarter that companies’ reporting periods map to (not the call date), with the challenge rate for that period. Periods inside the range with no questions are shown as “No questions recorded”.
| Calendar period | Questions | Challenge rate | Companies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q4 | 1 | 0%none of 1 question | 1 |
| 2025 Q1 | 1 | 0%none of 1 question | 1 |
| 2025 Q2 | 1 | 0%none of 1 question | 1 |
| 2025 Q3 | 1 | 100%1 of 1 question | 1 |
| 2025 Q4 | 1 | 0%none of 1 question | 1 |
| 2026 Q1 | 1 | 100%1 of 1 question | 1 |
| 2026 Q2 | 1 | 0%none of 1 question | 1 |
- 2024 Q41 question · challenge rate 0% (none of 1 question) · 1 company
- 2025 Q11 question · challenge rate 0% (none of 1 question) · 1 company
- 2025 Q21 question · challenge rate 0% (none of 1 question) · 1 company
- 2025 Q31 question · challenge rate 100% (1 of 1 question) · 1 company
- 2025 Q41 question · challenge rate 0% (none of 1 question) · 1 company
- 2026 Q11 question · challenge rate 100% (1 of 1 question) · 1 company
- 2026 Q21 question · challenge rate 0% (none of 1 question) · 1 company
Topics
Topics tagged on this analyst’s questions.
- Demand3
- Geographic Expansion2
- Revenue Growth2
- Subscriber Growth2
- Competitive Dynamics1
- Cost Pressure1
- Inventory1
- Trade Tariffs1
- Innovation & R&D1