Costco Reports 9.6% Comparable Sales Increase in March, Short of Wall Street Projections
April 08 2020 - 5:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a smaller-than-expected 9.6%
comparable-sales increase in March, delivering a sobering reality
check that sent the stock down in after-hours trading.
Shares, which have been trading near record levels, fell 3.5% to
$295.20 in after-hours trading Wednesday.
The warehouse operator and other companies that offer essential
services, such as food and gasoline, have remained open during the
coronavirus pandemic and have reported higher sales of certain
products such as paper goods as nervous shoppers stocked up.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported Walmart Inc.'s sales
in the U.S. over the past four weeks rose nearly 20% from the
comparable period a year earlier.
Costco had reported a nearly 14% sales increase in February and
12% rise in comparable sales, a closely watched measure that
excludes the impact from locations that were opened or closed
within the year. The company said it had seen higher demand in the
final week of the month as concerns about the coronavirus
mounted.
The U.S. has since become a hotspot of the global pandemic, with
some 400,000 confirmed cases and 13,000 deaths linked to the virus,
according to a Johns Hopskins University tally.
On Wednesday, Costco reported $15.49 billion in net sales for
the five weeks ended April 5, up 12% from last year, while
comparable sales rose 9.6%. Analysts surveyed by Consensus Metrix
expected a 19% increase.
The company, which has more than 780 warehouses, has put in
place temporary restrictions during the pandemic, including setting
aside a shopping time for those 60 or older and giving priority
access to health-care workers and first responders like police
officers, EMTs and firefighters.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 08, 2020 16:51 ET (20:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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