3 Stocks to Watch on Thursday: Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU) and Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT)

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U.S. stocks were stronger on a Wednesday that saw telecoms rise 2.4%, while REITs gained 1.9%. The S&P 500 Index surged 1.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.6% higher and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1%.

3 Stocks to Watch on Thursday: Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU) and Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT)Earnings reports dominated the day, with Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) and Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) releasing their results.

Here’s what you should know:

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

Costco topped expectations in its fiscal first-quarter report.

For its fiscal year 2017, the grocery wholesale store announced that it earned $1.24 per share. Wall Street was calling for earnings of $1.19 per share.

Revenue came in at $28.1 billion for Costco. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were calling for revenue of $28.3 billion.

Total company comparable sales were up 1%. The company also saw its total number of members rise, but what really helped was that the company’s membership fee revenue 6% to $630 million.

COST shares gained 1.4% after the bell Wednesday.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU)

Lululemon surpassed the consensus estimate on Wednesday.

The Canadian company said that its net income was 50 cents, while earnings were 47 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Analysts were calling for earnings of 43 cents per share on an adjusted basis.

Analysts polled by Zacks were also calling for revenue of $540 million, which was lower than the $544.4 million that Lululemon raked in over the course of the quarter.

Fiscal full-year earnings are expected to be in the range of $2.11 to $2.16 per share, with revenue slated to be in the range of $2.32 billion to $2.34 billion.

For its current quarter, revenue is expected to be around $775 million, lower than the estimate of $792 million.

LULU shares skyrocketed 14.1% after hours yesterday.

Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT)

Verint Systems failed to live up to projections.

Revenue came in at $258.9 million, marking a year-over-year decline of 8.8%. The company posted a loss of $8.2 million over the quarter, significantly worse than the $7.6 million it raked in a year ago.

Gross margins fell to 60.1% — they were at 62.9% earlier.

CEO Dan Bodner said that the company had a strong fourth quarter and the next fiscal year will see a mid-to-high single-digit growth in revenue on a constant currency basis in cyber intelligence.

Call-center software accounting will make up for the rest of the revenue.

VRNT shares fell 12% Wednesday.

As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/12/stocks-watch-thursday-costco-wholesale-corporation-cost-lululemon-athletica-inc-lulu-verint-systems-inc-vernt/.

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