Costco Same-Store Sales Rise After String of Declines
December 07 2016 - 4:40PM
Dow Jones News
Costco Wholesale Corp. on Wednesday logged a
better-than-expected rise in profit for its fiscal first quarter,
as same-store sales grew for the first time in the past three
quarters.
Shares of the big box retailer, which have fallen 7.9% over the
past 12 months, fell 1% after hours to $152.30 as overall revenue
fell just short of Wall Street expectations.
The latest results come amid the relatively upbeat outlook for
the holiday season among some of the biggest players in the
challenged retail sector. Macy's Inc. and Kohl's Corp. have posted
optimistic outlooks for the crucial holiday season, despite
continuing struggles with changing shopping habits and competition
from discounters. And last month, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also chimed
in with the expectation that consumer spending would remain solid
during the holidays.
Much of the sector has struggled to keep pace with Amazon.com
Inc., however, which has e-commerce sales greater than the combined
e-commerce sales of the next 20 U.S. retailers, Costco among
them.
Same-store sales for Costco, which have been lackluster in
recent quarters, rose 1%, an improvement over the 1% retreat logged
a year ago and matching the forecast of analysts polled by
FactSet.
For the November quarter, Costco reported a profit of $545
million, or $1.24 a share, up from $480 million, or $1.09 a share,
a year earlier. Revenue rose 3.2% to $28.1 billion. Net sales
climbed 3.2% to $27.5 billion, while membership fees rose to $630
million from $593 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were looking for earnings
of $1.19 a share on $28.3 billion in revenue.
The latest period benefited from a $51 million legal settlement
that contributed 7 cents a share to earnings, the company said.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2016 17:25 ET (22:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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