Costco (COST) Posts Q3 Earnings Beat, Total Comps Up 5%

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) just released its third-quarter fiscal 2017 results, posting earnings, excluding non-recurring items, of $1.40 per share and revenues of $28.22 billion. Currently, COST is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, and is up 1.73% to $177.80 per share in trading shortly after its earnings report was released.

Costco:

Beat earnings estimates. The company reported earnings of $1.40 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.31 per share. This number excludes 19 cents from non-recurring items.

Beat revenue estimates. The company saw total revenues of $28.86 billion, just beating our consensus estimate of $28.65 billion and increasing 8% year-over-year. Net sales were $28.22 billion, while membership fees were $644 million in Q3.

Total comparable sales were 5%. For the U.S., comparable sales increased 6%, while in Canada, comps jumped 2%.

Net income for the quarter was $700 million, and was positively impacted by an $82 million tax benefit that relates to the $7.00 per share special cash dividend announced on April 25.

Here’s a graph that looks at Costco’s price, consensus, and EPS surprise:

Costco Wholesale Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Costco Wholesale Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Costco Wholesale Corporation Quote

Costco Wholesale Corp. operates membership warehouses based on the concept that offering members very low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and selected private label products in a wide range of merchandise categories will produce high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover. This rapid inventory turnover enables Costco to operate profitably at significantly lower gross margins than traditional wholesalers, discount retailers and supermarkets.

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