Costco Q1 Earnings: Revenue Beat, EPS Beat, Comps Up 5.2%, Membership Fee Growth And More

Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported first-quarter financial results after the market close on Thursday. Here’s a look at the key details from the quarter.

Q1 Earnings: Costco reported first-quarter revenue of $62.15 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $62.08 billion. The membership-based retailer reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.82 per share, beating analyst estimates of $3.79 per share, according to Benzinga Pro.

Costco noted its earnings results included a tax benefit of $100 million or 22 cents per diluted share, related to stock-based compensation.

Net sales for the first quarter were up 7.5% year-over-year. Comparable sales in the first quarter were up 5.2% in the U.S., up 5.8% in Canada and up 4.7% in the Other International segment. Total comps climbed 5.2%, and total e-commerce sales increased by 13%.

Membership fees came in at $1.17 billion, up from $1.08 billion in the prior year's quarter.

Earlier this year, Costco announced it was raising the price of its annual store membership by $5. The membership fee increase went into effect on Sept. 1.

Costco said it now operates 897 warehouses, including 617 in the U.S. The company ended the quarter with $10.91 billion in cash and cash equivalents, up from $9.91 billion at the end of the fourth quarter.

Management will further discuss the quarter on a conference call with analysts and investors at 5 p.m. ET.

COST Price Action: Costco shares were down 0.63% in after-hours, trading at $992.87 at the time of publication Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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