Costco (COST) Q2-26 earnings: The ChatGPT pricing hack & a diluted membership moat

Costco’s Q2 2026 results reveal a wholesale juggernaut adjusting its strategy for the AI era while grappling with the consequences of a sky-high stock price.In ~10 minutes:• How Costco is actively formatting pricing data for ChatGPT.• Why a $1,000 stock price essentially delays the special dividend.• Details on a new 8-second automated checkout pilot.• Why surging e-commerce signups are diluting their fabled renewal moat.The wholesale machine is still humming, driving revenue up 3.4% sequentially to $69.59 billion as they heavily slash staple prices to drive volume. But underneath the hood, massive digital sign-ups are actively dragging down historic renewal rates. Plus, we explore the mathematical irony of a share price so high that a special cash payout would register as a disappointing percentage yield to Wall Street. Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) | Q2 FY2026AI-assisted production. Feedback/ticker requests: https://x.com/EarnUnscripted.