Costco Reports 12.3% Net Sales Increase for Five-Week Period Through Jan. 3
January 06 2021 - 04:55PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Costco Wholesale Corp.'s sales rose 12% for the five weeks ended
Jan. 3.
Shares closed at $370.02, down $1.5% for the day, and recently
traded at $370.40 in after-hours trading.
Costco reported $19.14 billion in net sales for the five-week
period. Comparable sales, a closely watched performance metric that
looks at sales at warehouse-club locations open for more than a
year, rose 10.7%. Excluding the impact from gasoline sales and
currency swings, core comparable sales rose 10.9%.
Analysts surveyed by Consensus Metrix expected a 10.1% increase,
or 11.2% when adjusted for gas sales and currency swings.
Costco, one of the companies whose services were deemed
essential and remained open during the coronavirus pandemic, has
largely fared well financially during the pandemic, offering
one-stop shopping for such things as food and appliances. In
December, it paid a special cash dividend of $10 a share--the first
special dividend since 2017.
Costco ended the first quarter on Nov. 22 with $13.59 billion in
cash.
"Someone asked the question after we announced the $10 dividend,
we could have done more," Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti
said in a conference call to discuss the first-quarter results.
"The answer is we could have but why rush?"
"We still don't know what's going to happen with COVID and what
may happen next year in the economy," Mr. Galanti said.
Costco currently operates 803 warehouses, including 558 in the
United States and Puerto Rico.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 06, 2021 16:40 ET (21:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024