Costco Posts Higher 2Q Profit on Sales Lift

By Kimberly Chin

Costco Wholesale Corp. said Thursday profit rose in the fiscal second quarter, lifted by rising sales, as the warehouse retail chain saw a boost from consumers stockpiling on items in light of coronavirus fears.

Net income rose to $931 million during the quarter ended Feb. 16 from $889 million during the same period last year. On a per-share basis, Costco earned $2.10, compared with $2.01 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting reported earnings of $2.05 a share.

Costco reported total revenue of $39.07 billion, up from $35.4 billion during the same period last year. Analysts were looking for revenue of $38.21 billion. The retailer's e-commerce sales increased 28.4% for the quarter.

Comparable sales, those from stores or digital operations open for at least 12 months, rose 8.9% during the quarter and 7.9% when excluding the impact of gasoline prices and currency fluctuations.

The company said it saw an uptick in February sales, which it attributed to "concerns over the Coronavirus" and estimates a positive impact on total and comparable sales of about 3%.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2020 16:49 ET (21:49 GMT)

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