Deutsche Bank On Costco: October Sales To Be 'Solid'

Paul Trussell of Deutsche Bank expects Costco (NASDAQ: COST) to stand out among retailers when the company reports its October sales metrics.“While retail remains volatile, we believe Costco has produced another solid mid-single-digit comp in October with strength in food sales, particularly fresh, and consistency in softlines and hardlines categories,” Trussel wrote. The analyst expects Costco to report core same-store-sales gains of 6.5 percent, roughly in-line with September's results and slightly higher than the 12 month average of 5.8 percent. Including gas, foreign exchange fluctuations and inflation impacts, the analyst expects a headline comp gain of 5.0 percent in September.Costco is expected to report traffic gains of around 4.0 percent in October, in-line with recent results. The average ticket is expected to be 50 basis points higher as modest food inflation is offset by lower gas prices.Shares are Buy rated with a $135 price target.