Costco reported it continued looking for ways to keep tariff-related price increases from affecting members during its fourth quarter, beating Wall Street estimates on sales and earnings for the period.
Net income was $2.61 billion, or $5.87 per diluted share, versus $2.35 billion, or $5.29 per diluted share, in the year-previous period.
An analyst consensus estimate from Yahoo Finance had Costco earning $5.81 per diluted share in the quarter on revenues of $86.06 billion.
Comparable sales, excluding the impact of gasoline and foreign exchange price volatility, were up 6% in the U.S., 8.3% in Canada, 7.2% in other international markets and 6.4% for the company. E-commerce was up 13.5%.
Net sales increased to $84.43 billion from $78.19 billion in the year-earlier quarter while net revenue increased to $86.16 billion from $79.7 billion, the company stated. Operating income was $3.34 billion versus $3.04 billion in the year-prior period.
For the full fiscal year, net income was $8.1 billion, or $18.21 per diluted share, versus $7.37 billion, or $16.56 per diluted share, in the annum previous, Costco reported.
Comparable sales, sans gasoline and foreign exchange, were up 7.3% in the U.S., 8.3% in Canada, 8.2% in other international markets and 7.6% for the company. E-commerce was up 16.1%.
Net sales increased to $269.91 billion from $249.63 billion in the year earlier while net revenue increased to $275.24 billion from $254.45 billion, the company noted. Operating income was $10.38 billion versus $9.29 billion in the year prior.
Ron Vachris, Costco president and CEO, said in a conference call that Kirkland’s Signature (KS) private labels is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and the brand continues to provide value to Costco members, providing them a hedge against price gains associated with tariffs.
“We are continuing to look at opportunities to move more KS product sourcing into the countries where the items are sold,” Vachris said, “and this is helping to lower costs as well as reduce emissions from transporting goods around the world.”
He said Costco merchants have continued working to mitigate the effects of tariffs.
Costco Executive Vice President and CFO Gary Millerchip said nonfood comps increased in the high single digits during the fourth quarter year over year, while Food and Sundry comps gained in the mid to high single digits and Fresh Foods gained in the high single digits.
