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1. What the Moomoo article says
The Moomoo piece highlights three major themes for the week of 21–25 September 2026:
🛒 Costco Q4 earnings — 24 September
Costco is scheduled to report fiscal Q4 results after the U.S. market closes on Thursday, 24 September. Costco itself confirms the earnings call date. (Costco Investor Relations)
The market is looking for approximately:
| Metric | Expectations |
|---|---|
| Revenue | ~US$94.85–94.9B |
| YoY revenue growth | ~10% |
| Adjusted EPS | ~US$6.54–6.55 |
| EPS growth | ~12% |
(TipRanks)
But the interesting part isn't really whether Costco can grow revenue. It is whether margins and membership growth can keep up with the company's valuation.
What investors will watch
1. Membership growth and renewal rates
Costco's membership model is the foundation of its economics. Paid-member growth has slowed to around 4.1%, compared with 6.3% a year earlier, while U.S./Canada renewal rates have remained very high. (Earnings Whispers)
Investors therefore want to see whether:
membership growth stabilizes;
renewal rates remain strong;
Executive memberships continue growing;
Costco can continue increasing membership-fee income.
2. Margins
This is probably the biggest earnings issue.
Costco has deliberately kept prices competitive, which supports customer traffic but puts pressure on gross margins. Higher transportation, fuel and other supply-chain costs are another headwind. RBC expects gross-margin pressure but believes tariff refunds could partly offset it. (Yahoo Finance)
BofA similarly expects Q4 EPS around $6.52, slightly below the roughly $6.55 consensus, because of margin pressure. (Yahoo Finance)
3. Tariff refunds
Costco could receive significant tariff-related refunds. Analysts are watching whether Costco uses that money to:
lower prices,
protect margins,
or potentially return cash to shareholders.
4. Digital sales
Costco's digital business has been growing considerably faster than its traditional business. Digitally enabled comparable sales were up around 20%+, making e-commerce another important growth engine. (StoneX)
The recently expanded DoorDash/Uber Eats relationships are strategically interesting, although they won't materially affect the Q4 numbers being reported, because the rollout occurred after the quarter ended. (Yahoo Finance)
2. What investors are discussing online
I searched the major discussion areas you mentioned. The strongest current discussion is around Reddit, financial forums and stock-investing communities. There is considerably less searchable, substantive discussion on Facebook/Instagram/Threads/TikTok and X than there is on Reddit and financial forums.
🟢 Bullish argument: "Costco keeps executing"
One recurring investor argument is that Costco's underlying business remains exceptionally strong:
~10% revenue growth despite its huge size
strong traffic
strong U.S. comparable sales
very high membership renewal
strong Executive membership growth
rapidly growing digital sales
Costco's value proposition remains attractive when consumers become more price-conscious.
A recent Reddit discussion specifically highlighted the contrast between Costco's large valuation and its continuing double-digit growth. (Reddit)
Another recent Reddit earnings discussion focuses on membership fees, renewal rates, digital growth and consumer resilience as the key Q4 metrics. (Reddit)
🟡 The big concern: valuation
This is probably the most repeated bearish argument.
Costco is trading at roughly 45–47× earnings, depending on the measurement/date. (StoneX)
So investors aren't merely asking:
"Will Costco make money?"
They're asking:
"Can Costco continue growing fast enough to justify paying such a high multiple?"
That explains why Costco can report strong sales and still see relatively little stock appreciation—or even fall—if margins or guidance disappoint.
A recent analysis noted that Costco has repeatedly produced strong results while the stock has struggled to respond proportionately. (TIKR.com)
3. The "earnings beat but stock falls" issue
This is particularly important for COST.
Costco's Q3 provides a good example.
Q3 revenue was strong and EPS increased substantially, but the stock dropped after the results because the EPS result wasn't sufficiently above expectations and margins were under pressure. (Reddit)
So for this week's report:
A simple EPS beat may not automatically translate into a higher share price.
Investors are likely to examine:
EPS → margins → membership → guidance → valuation
rather than EPS alone.
4. Special dividend speculation
This is one of the more interesting themes circulating among Costco investors.
Costco has previously paid a large special dividend, including a $15/share special dividend in January 2024.
Because Costco has accumulated substantial cash, some investors are speculating about another special dividend. Barron's notes that a similar percentage yield could imply something around $22/share at current prices, although that is speculation rather than a company announcement. (Barron's)
BofA has also pointed to the possibility of a special dividend over the coming quarters given Costco's expected cash position. (Yahoo Finance)
Important: this isn't something Costco has announced for this earnings report.
5. HardwareZone / Singapore discussion
The Singapore HardwareZone stock discussions are much broader than Costco-specific discussion. Costco appears as part of the wider U.S. stock conversation rather than having a large dedicated COST discussion.
The general HWZ sentiment around U.S. equities tends to focus on:
valuation;
whether strong earnings are already priced in;
U.S. market concentration;
buying opportunities after earnings-driven sell-offs;
individual investors accumulating quality U.S. companies for the long term.
For example, the HWZ USA-stocks thread contains extensive discussion of earnings reactions and valuation across large U.S. companies, although I didn't find a comparable Costco-specific discussion volume to Reddit. (HardwareZone Forums)
6. Reddit discussion — the most useful social signal
The Reddit discussions I found broadly break down into three camps:
Costco bulls
"The business is too good to ignore."
They focus on:
membership economics;
loyal customers;
Costco's ability to gain market share;
strong sales;
Executive memberships;
digital growth.
Valuation skeptics
"Great company, expensive stock."
Their concern is that ~45× earnings leaves little room for disappointment.
A 10% revenue increase isn't necessarily enough if investors were already expecting something close to that.
Earnings traders
These investors are focused on the post-earnings move, rather than Costco's 5–10 year business prospects.
The discussion is therefore increasingly about:
EPS versus consensus;
margin surprise;
membership numbers;
guidance;
options/volatility;
whether the stock has already priced in good news.
7. My distilled version of the article
If I reduce the entire Moomoo article + current investor discussion to one chart:
| Factor | Current picture | What matters Thursday |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 🟢 Strong | Can ~10% growth continue? |
| Comparable sales | 🟢 Strong | Is consumer traffic still healthy? |
| Digital | 🟢 Very strong | Can ~20% growth continue? |
| Membership | 🟡 Slowing | Does growth stabilize? |
| Renewal | 🟢 Very high | Remains critical |
| Gross margin | 🟡 Under pressure | Probably the biggest risk |
| Tariffs | 🟡 Uncertain | Refund impact |
| Cash | 🟢 Strong | Potential shareholder returns |
| Valuation | 🔴 High | Biggest stock-market risk |
| Special dividend | 🟡 Speculation | Possible future catalyst |
| Stock reaction | 🟡 Uncertain | Beat ≠ automatically higher stock |
Bottom line
The article isn't really saying "Costco earnings will be good." That's already largely expected.
The more important story is:
Costco's underlying sales and membership business remains strong, but investors are asking whether growth can justify a very high valuation while margins face pressure.
That's why membership growth + renewal rate + gross margin may matter more to COST investors than whether EPS comes in at $6.55 versus $6.60.
And the online discussion reflects exactly that tension: Costco is widely viewed as a very strong business, but the debate is whether the stock price already reflects that strength. (StoneX)
If you're looking at COST specifically as an investment, the three numbers I'd watch in the earnings release are EPS, gross margin and membership/renewal growth, rather than just the headline revenue beat.
