Costco Racks Up Double-Digit Q2 Ecommerce Comps

Thanks in major part to its continuing stellar online sales performance, Costco Wholesale Corp. posted net sales for its fiscal 2019 second quarter ended Feb. 17 of $34.63 billion, a 7.3 percent increase from the $32.28 billion logged last year. The retailer’s sales for the first 24 weeks of the fiscal year grew 8.7 percent, to $68.94 billion from $63.40 billion in the year-ago period.

Adjusted U.S. comparable sales for the 12-week quarter and 24 weeks were up 7.2 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, while adjusted total-company comparable sales were up 6.7 percent and 7 percent. Adjusted ecommerce comparable sales for the periods increased 25.5 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively

Costco’s reported net income for the quarter was $889 million, or $2.01 per diluted share, versus $701 million, or $1.59 per diluted share, last year. The company’s net income for the first 24 weeks was $1.66 billion, or $3.74 per diluted share, compared with $1.34 billion, or $3.04 per diluted share, last year.

For the four-week reporting month of February ended March 3, Costco posted net sales of $10.72 billion, a 5 percent rise from the $10.21 billion reported last year. For the 26-week period ended March 3, the retailer’s net sales were $74.42 billion, an 8.6 percent increase from the $68.51 billion posted last year. For the periods in question, Costco’s adjusted U.S. comps were up 5.7 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively, and its adjusted total-company comps saw increases of 4.6 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, while the company’s adjusted ecommerce comps rose 21.6 percent and 25.5, respectively.

According to the retailer, its February sales were adversely affected by about 1 percent by inclement weather throughout the United States and Canada. In addition, Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year occurred 11 days earlier in February this year, denting the month’s other international sales by about 4.5 percent and total company sales by around 0.5 percent.

Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco operates 770 warehouses worldwide, including 535 in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company also has ecommerce sites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea and Taiwan.