In single-stock news, Costco Holdings (COST) jumped 4.5% to a new record close of $658.70, after the warehouse club reported higher-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings of $3.58 per share on in-line revenue of $57.8 billion. Also included in Costco's quarterly report was news the company will pay a $15 per-share special dividend. COST is already one of Wall Street's top dividend stocks, having increased its payout for 19 years straight. Plus, this will mark Costco's fifth special dividend since 2012. One thing not mentioned in the report was a Costco membership fee hike, which CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram (Hold) thinks will come when "inflation moderates further and consumer purchasing power improves."
And yet that's exactly where that 15% divvy will come from. AFAIK they've been hiking my membership fee almost every damn year.