Costco Beats Q3 Sales Views With 9.4% U.S. Comp Growth as $4 Gas Draws Shoppers

2 articles · Updated · Reuters · May 28

U.S. comparable sales including gas rose 9.4% in Costco's third quarter, topping analysts' roughly 7% estimate as price-conscious consumers flocked to its lower-cost fuel.
Gasoline above $4 a gallon pushed many members to use Costco stations for the first time, and the company widened its fuel price gap to drive volume that often spills into warehouse spending.
$70.53 billion in quarterly revenue, up 12%, and $2.19 billion in net income, up 15%, beat expectations, while adjusted EPS of $4.93 matched forecasts.
Margins still faced pressure from Costco's low-price stance: beef prices were kept down, while appliances stayed costly because of memory-chip prices and some oil-linked goods could remain expensive.
Costco said tariff refunds from outlawed levies could start arriving in two to three months and would be passed to consumers in some form, as a March customer lawsuit seeks a share.

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