Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) shares climbed over 5% Thursday after the warehouse giant reported December sales numbers that suggest it absolutely dominated the holiday shopping season. The kind of numbers that make retail analysts smile.

JP Morgan analyst Christopher Horvers kept his Overweight rating on the stock with a $1,000 price forecast, arguing that Costco is steadily grabbing market share across categories while foot traffic keeps getting better. The thesis here is straightforward: easier year-over-year comparisons ahead plus potential tax refund spending equals room for the valuation to run higher.

Here's what makes Costco's business model particularly resilient. The company operates primarily in staples, with consumables making up about 70% of what it sells. Add in long-term global expansion plans and a membership model with high renewal rates, and you've got a pretty dependable revenue machine. Membership fees alone generate roughly half of operating profit, which gives the company serious pricing flexibility. Rising e-commerce profitability and growing advertising revenue only sweeten the picture.

Now for the December performance details. U.S. core comparable sales rose 6.3%, comfortably ahead of what Wall Street expected and what Costco itself had penciled in. Traffic in the U.S. grew 2.4%, while total enterprise traffic climbed 2.7% year over year. The average ticket increased 3.4% when you strip out gas price deflation and foreign exchange moves.

Canada delivered a solid 6.0% core comp that met expectations, while international regions slightly beat forecasts. When you exclude gas and currency effects, comps hit 6.9%, which Horvers says reflects genuinely strong underlying demand.

Regionally, the Midwest, Northwest, and Southeast led U.S. performance during the period. Internationally, Australia, Japan, and Korea powered the gains. Weather did create some headwinds for Northeast demand in December, though the comparisons versus competitor BJ's looked less brutal than they might have. Store cannibalization pressures also eased to 50 basis points from 60 basis points in previous months, which is a welcome trend.

Horvers believes the December momentum confirms his view that Costco continues outperforming retail peers. Strong November and December results mean the company "won the holidays" once again, setting up expectations for continued upside as year-over-year comparisons get easier in coming months. The analyst thinks those easier comps should support further sales growth as seasonal pressures fade.

Looking ahead, Horvers points to expected spring tax stimulus as another potential catalyst to boost Costco's already strong demand. Extended shopping hours for Executive members continue driving higher visit frequency and spending, which shows up in the numbers. Executive sign-ups rose to 80,000 per week, up from 70,000 during the prior quarter. That higher Executive membership contributed to roughly 5% growth in membership fee income this quarter.

COST Price Action: Costco Wholesale shares were up 5.05% at $927.11 at the time of publication Thursday.