Costco is firing on all cylinders — and shoppers are loving it

Costco beat expectations with net sales of nearly $66 billion for its first fiscal quarter, including US comparable sales growth of 5.9%.

  • Costco reported first-quarter net sales of nearly $66 billion, up 8.2% from last year.
  • In the US, comparable sales grew 5.9% with increases in both traffic and ticket size.
  • CEO Ron Vachris said the company's expansion is both faster and more productive than just two years ago.

Costco just keeps cruising.

The wholesale club delivered net sales of $65.98 billion for the quarter, up 8.2% from $60.99 billion for the same period last year.

US stores saw strong comparable sales growth of 5.9%, propelled by a 2.6% increase in traffic and a 3.2% increase in transaction size.

CFO Gary Millerchip also said the holiday season has been a record-setting one for its US warehouses.

The food court sold 358,000 whole pizzas for Halloween, and more than 4.5 million pies in the three days leading up to Thanksgiving.

"That's over 7,000 pies per warehouse over a three-day period," he said.

Memberships also grew by more than 5%, ending the quarter with nearly 146 million cardholders. The company now operates 923 warehouses worldwide, including 633 in the US.

"The success of our new warehouse expansion has allowed us to consistently drive top-line revenue well in excess of our comparable sales and gain significant market share," CEO Ron Vachris said.

The last fiscal year's openings are generating annualized sales of more than $190 million per warehouse, compared with $150 million just two years ago, Vachris said.

Earlier in the month, Costco filed a lawsuit against the US government seeking a refund for all tariffs paid under President Donald Trump's executive order.

The post Costco is firing on all cylinders — and shoppers are loving it appeared first on Business Insider