Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports March Sales Results

After a gruesome showing in April with U.S. total retail sales plummeting to recession-level numbers, May spending made an unexpected recovery as states allowed more retail stores to reopen. The easing of coronavirus-related business closures and stay-at-home orders gave overall retail a much-needed boost, yet the recent surge in online and other nonstore sales as people were forced to place orders from the safety of their own homes showed no signs of slowing last month, new U.S. Department of Commerce data shows. Consumer spending through nonstore channels increased 24.6% year over year in May—the highest growth rate ever recorded for the month, according to a Digital Commerce 360 analysis of the Commerce Department’s advance monthly figures released Tuesday. Numbers exclude estimated fuel sales. The jump also represents the second-largest year-over-year uptick of any month in the history of the agency’s available data, falling behind only December 2019, when nonstore sales swelled by 25.7%.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $17.73 billion for the retail month of October, the four weeks ended October 30, 2022, an increase of 7.7 percent from $16.47 billion last year. For the nine weeks ended October 30, 2022, the Company reported net sales of $39.19 billion, an increase of 9.0 percent from $35.97 billion last year.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $20.14 billion for the retail month of November, the four weeks ended November 26, 2023, an increase of 5.1 percent from $19.17 billion last year. For the twelve weeks ended November 26, 2023, the Company reported net sales of $56.71 billion, an increase of 6.1 percent from $53.44 billion for the twelve weeks of fiscal year 2023 ended November 20, 2022. Net sales for the twelve weeks were benefitted by approximately one-half to one percent in the U.S. and worldwide from the shift of the fiscal calendar, as a result of the fifty-third week in fiscal year 2023.