Rubbish Check
Fox Business · September 25, 2026
source“Costco receives $184M in tariff refunds, says most will go toward lower prices”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates Fox Business's report that Costco got "$184M in tariff refunds, says most will go toward lower prices" a 2/10 because the figure and the "majority reinvested" claim are both direct, verifiable quotes from Costco's own CFO on the earnings call, with only the "just one-third of the total" caveat left for the body rather than the headline.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The headline states exactly what Costco's leadership said on the call, no inflation or softening, but it compresses a bigger story: this $184 million is only the first sizeable instalment of tariff refunds the company expects, and the headline doesn't signal that. That's a minor omission, not a distortion; the framing matches the substance.
What actually happened
Costco disclosed on its Q4 earnings call that it received $184 million in tariff refunds and reinvested most of it into member-facing price cuts on everyday goods. Millerchip said Costco received $184 million in tariff refunds in the company's fourth quarter, which consisted of $174 million in refunds and $10 million in interest. The big box retailer said the lower pricing from tariff refunds was applied to a range of everyday items, including food and beverages, as well as other product categories.
Key facts
- Costco received $184 million in tariff refunds in the company's fourth quarter, the majority of which was reinvested into lower pricing for members shopping at the retail giant's warehouses.
- Breakdown: Millerchip said Costco received $184 million in tariff refunds in the company's fourth quarter, which consisted of $174 million in refunds and $10 million in interest.
- Scale in context: he added that amount represents a little over one-third of the total tariff refunds that Costco expects to receive, adding the company had already received a similar amount of refunds in the first quarter.
- Forward guidance: "We intend to continue reinvesting the majority of the dollars we receive in increased member values. As tariff refunds and tariff refund reinvestments are nonrecurring items that will continue to impact our financial results in fiscal year 2027, we plan to provide a similar level of information about the net impact on future quarterly earnings calls," Millerchip said.
- Which items were touched: "This was predominantly through price reductions on a number of items in the second half of the quarter, including everyday items in produce, meat and beverages and some nonfood items such as home furnishings and hardware."
What to watch for
- Costco says roughly two-thirds of its expected tariff refund total is still to come; watch whether the "majority reinvested" pattern holds once the bigger tranches land.
- These are flagged as nonrecurring items hitting FY2027 results, so expect this same disclosure format on future earnings calls, worth tracking whether the reinvestment share changes.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
