Senior vice president of financial planning, Robert Nelson, elaborated on rising costs in the conference call following the earnings release on May 26: For Q1, we estimated price inflation was in the 4.5% to 5% range. Costco's excellent operating performance has already had investors flocking to the stock, raising its valuation to a price-to-earnings ratio above some of its retail competitors, Walmart and Target. Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) reported fiscal 2022 third-quarter earnings after the markets closed on Thursday, May 26.