Costco Posts Better-Than-Expected Retail Sales (COST)

Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. COST are higher in the pre-market by 0.88%, trading at $58.30. The company just reported same store sales for August that beat the Street estimate. COST said that August SSS were positive by 5%; analysts were expecting a 3.6% gain. When factoring in gas sales, where prices were higher, SSS rose by 7%, versus the 4.2% estimate. COST’s international sales were up 11% in August and up 6% in the US. Costco Wholesale Corporation operates membership warehouses that offer its members low prices on a limited selection of branded and selected private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. It buys the majority of its merchandise directly from manufacturers and route it to a cross-docking consolidation point or directly to its warehouses.