Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) shares are rising Thursday. The company reported a 12.6% jump in October net sales, to $24.50 billion. Here's what you should know.
Costco Stock Rises After October Sales Report
Costco shares are climbing Thursday, a day after the retailer posted its October sales following the market close. The four-week retail month ending Nov. 1 produced $24.50 billion, a 12.6% increase over the $21.75 billion recorded a year earlier.
Counting the nine weeks since the fiscal year began, sales have reached $54.52 billion, 12.8% more than the $48.33 billion a year ago.
Comparable sales, a measure of results at warehouses open at least a year, rose 11.1% companywide in October and 11.3% across the nine weeks. U.S. warehouses did best, with gains of 12.6% and 12.5%. Canada grew 4.9% and 5.7%, while Costco's other international markets grew 9.4% and 10.2%.
Costco Comparable Sales Excluding Gasoline and Currency
Gasoline prices and currency swings added roughly a third of the headline growth. Take them out, and companywide comparable sales rose 7.3% in October, 3.8 percentage points less than the 11.1% reported, and 7.5% over nine weeks. The U.S. figure was 8.1% in both periods. Canada advanced 3.5% and 4.3%, and other international markets advanced 6.9% and 7.4%.
Digital shopping grew even faster than the stores. Orders placed through digital channels, then filled at a warehouse, shipped from a distribution hub or booked via Costco Travel, grew 22.5% in October and 20.5% over nine weeks. Without currency effects, those gains were 22.6% and 20.6%.
Costco runs 943 warehouses worldwide, and 651 of them are in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
COST Shares Are Climbing
COST Price Action: Costco shares were up 2.22% at $1069.68 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro.