Costco Recovers on Q4 Beat

Recovering from pandemic-related compromises that may have muted sales earlier this year, Costco Wholesale said sales for its 16-week fiscal fourth quarter increased by 12.5% with U.S. comps up by 13.6%, excluding gasoline.

The Issaquah, Wash.-based membership warehouse club said total revenues for the period ending Aug. 30 totaled $52.3 billion, which net earnings were $1.4 billion. That translated to earnings per share of $3.13, or well ahead of analyst expectations.

Sales recovering at Costco was evident through previously released monthly sales updates as it returned over the summer to practices suspended temporarily with the onset of the pandemic in March, including in-store sampling, opening hours and restrictions in some departments like optical. Non-fuel U.S. comps in the third quarter were a relatively modest 8%.

The company said digital sales in the quarter increased by 90.6%.

For the fiscal year, Costco said U.S. comps were up by 9.2%. Total revenues for the fiscal year were up 9.2% to $163.2 billion, with $4 billion in net income.

Costco currently operates 795 warehouses, including 552 in the United States and Puerto Rico.