Costco Wholesale (COST) has issued financial results for its fiscal first quarter that beat Wall Street estimates on the top and bottom lines.
The Seattle-based warehouse club reported earnings per share (EPS) of $4.50 U.S., which surpassed the $4.27 U.S. expected among analysts.
Revenue in the latest period totaled $67.31 billion U.S., which was ahead of the $67.14 billion U.S. that was forecast on Wall Street. Sales were up 8.2% from a year ago.
Management said the strong performance was driven largely by digital or e-commerce sales, as well as new store locations.
Costco’s online sales rose by 20.5% year-over-year during the quarter as traffic on its website increased 24% and activity on its app skyrocketed 48%.
The retailer also reported that it’s off to a strong start to the year-end holidays, with Black Friday proving to be a record-breaking day and generating $250 million U.S. in non-food orders.
Costco has attracted new members as consumers seek out value while shopping for groceries, household essentials, and holiday gifts.
Comparable sales at Costco increased 5.9% in the U.S. and 6.4% worldwide.
Non-food sales were led by pharmacy, gold and jewelry, tires, and electronics, which grew by double-digits year-over-year.
During the quarter, Costco opened eight new warehouse clubs, including a relocation in Canada, its third location in France, and four new outlets in the U.S.
The company’s total store count now stands at 921 worldwide. Costco plans to open 30 or more of its warehouse clubs each year moving forward.
The company said that it had 81.4 million paid members at the end of fiscal Q1, up 5.2% from a year ago and 145.9 million cardholders, up 5.1% year-over-year.
Costco’s membership renewal rate in the U.S. and Canada is 92.2% and its worldwide rate is 89.7%, among the highest in the retail industry.
Management said they continue to look for ways to reduce tariff impacts, including sourcing more items from the U.S. and relying on items that aren’t exposed to steep import duties.
COST stock has declined 3% this year to trade at $884.48 U.S. per share, near a 52-week low.
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