Any suggested tariff woes for American bulk retailer Costco have not hit its Q3 growth, with an 8% increase in sales helping turn in beats on analyst expectations for both earnings per share and revenue.
The quarter-over-quarter increase could be put down to the first price increases for memberships in seven years that took effect on September 1 last year.
Q3 net sales were up 8% to US$61.96 billion, with total sales for the first 36 weeks of FY25 coming in at $185.48 billion - an 8.2% increase from $171.44 billion year-over-year.
Across the U.S., Canada, and international markets, the company showed comparable growth of 5.7% for Q3, which jumps to 8% when adjusted for gas prices and foreign exchanges.
Unpredictability regarding tariffs saw e-commerce sales surge 14.8% for the quarter, or 15.7% when adjusted, with year-to-date e-commerce growth at 17.2%.
Net income for the quarter was $1.90 billion, translating to $4.28 per diluted share, up from $3.78 per share a year ago, while YTD net income reached $5.49 billion, or $12.34 per diluted share, compared to $11.27 per share in 2024.
Beats:
- Earnings per share: $4.28 vs $4.24 expected
- Revenue: $63.21 billion vs. $63.19 billion expected
Costco operates e-commerce platforms in eight counties and 905 warehouses globally; including 624 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and 281 across international markets in Canada, Mexico, Japan, UK, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, and several European countries.
The earnings news saw Costco (NASDAQ : COST) spike to US$1,024/sh in after-hours trade, only to sell off to hover around US$1,003/sh at the time of writing.
