News

What Costco's Earnings Mean for Mutual Fund Investors (COST)

Shauna O'Brien Dec 10, 2014

Costco released its first quarter financial results before the opening bell on Wednesday. The reported results came in higher than last year and beat analysts’ earnings expectations.

Inside COST’s Q1 Results

Earnings

The company reported earnings of $496 million, or $1.12 per share, up from $425 million, or 96 cents per share, last year. On average, analysts expected to see EPS of $1.09.

Revenue
Revenue rose to $26.28 billion from $24.47 billion last year. Analysts expected to see revenue of $26.92 billion.

Mutual Funds to Watch

Investors seeking exposure to Costco can invest in a mutual fund as an alternative to directly investing in the stock. Below are three funds that currently hold the largest stakes in the company.

Symbol	Mutual Fund	Stake
VTSMX	Vanguard Total Stock Market Index	1.66%
FCNTX	Fidelity Contrafund	1.15%
VFINX	Vanguard 500 Index	1.06%

The Bottom Line

By investing in one of the funds above, investors are able to gain exposure to a diverse group of stocks and industries. Investors interested in COST may also be interested in Wal-Mart (WMT) and PriceSmart (PSMT).