2025 proved to be a challenging year for retail as global inflation, tariff negotiations, and the focus toward AI stole most of the headlines. The growing necessity for a stronger business model, customer loyalty, and flexibility to pivot through challenges like tariffs, inflation, and supply chain constraints created separation where quality names like Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) and Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ: WMT) shined.
For emerging companies, both young and established brands, penetration into Costco and Walmart can mean the difference between stagnation and delivering compelling growth to shareholders. AXIL Brands Inc. (NYSE American: AXIL) began their growth trend in last quarter's reported revenues following orders from an estimated several hundred Costco stores pushing approximately 25% revenue growth in their core hearing protection division and blended growth around 17%. Already profitable with over a 500% increase in positive cash flow from FY2024 to FY2025 and 45% growth in cash equivalents strengthening their balance sheet during the same period, AXIL seeks to strengthen this revenue growth trend into the new year with a recently announced distribution agreement targeting a 2026 launch into 3700 Walmart stores. AXIL's growth in cash on hand was fully organic and non-dilutive, highlighting a fully diluted share count reduction from over 16 million shares at the start of FY2024 down to just over 8.2 million shares fully diluted at the end of FY2025 from a preferred share stock buyback.
Costco's sales trend shows strong, consistent growth, with recent reports indicating an 8.2% rise in net sales for late 2025 and early 2026, driven by increased shopper traffic, higher spending per visit, and significant digital sales growth of over 20% in Q1 FY2026. Walmart similarly posted strong recent sales trends led by over 27% growth in their e-commerce. Despite these strong double-digit e-commerce growth trends at both Walmart and Costco, brick-and-mortar still makes up 70-80% of all U.S. retail sales, proving the hybrid a likely dominant model into 2026. AXIL's revenue makeup, once dominated by online sales in prior years, seeks to shift for a stronger balance between online, direct-to-consumer, and their recent wholesale success.
Household name Danone S.A. (OTCQX: GPDNF) has also seen success with Costco, and management recently decided to buy back stock. While sales numbers remained stable, Danone's Oikos brand fared well with double-digit growth and encouraging results in a 2024 launch at Costco.
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Costco Wholesale Corporation specializes in the distribution of products and services at discount prices (food, sports equipment, household appliances, books, toys, jewelry, TVs, cameras, photo developing and printing services, etc.). The group develops its activity through a network of warehouse stores opened to individuals or companies who have paid a subscription fee. Net sales break down by revenue source as follows:
- sales of products (98.1%);
- sales of subscriptions (1.9%).
As of 31/08/2025, Costco Wholesale Corporation had a network of 914 warehouse stores located in the United States and Puerto Rico (629), Canada (110), Mexico (42), Japan (37), the United Kingdom (29), Korea (20), Australia (15), Taiwan (14), China (7), Spain (5), France (2), Sweden (2), New Zealand and Iceland.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (72.7%), Canada (13.4%) and other (13.9%).
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