Costco Has Some Work to Do

Amazon (Getting its Own Category). As this point, Amazon merely needs to hint that it may enter a vertical and market caps will get sliced by 30%. It doesn't matter whether that's logistics (see UPS and Fedex) or pharma. The idea that Amazon Prime will affect wholesale retailers like Costco? Well, Costco's CEO said, "As it relates to the publicity and the news and the noise around Amazon and Whole Foods, all we can do is perform." That's not a confidence-inspiring answer by any stretch of the imagination. And the market reacted by sending shares down nearly 10%. Why? Membership renewals and margins were down. Revenue? Up. Net income? Up. That's what makes this market move so intriguing. The report actually wasn't terrible. But Amazon!