Costco December Net Sales, Comps Rise; Stock Up In Pre-market

(RTTNews) - Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) reported Friday higher net sales and comparable sales for the month of December.

For the retail month of December, net sales were $23.80 billion, an increase of 7.0 percent from $22.24 billion last year.

Comparable sales grew 5.5 percent with a 6.2 percent increase in U.S., 4.7 percent growth in Canada, and 2.5 percent rise in other international sales. Meanwhile, e-commerce sales fell 6.4 percent.

Comparable sales excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange grew 7.3 percent for the month with good growth in all regions, while e-commerce sales fell 5.4 percent.

For the 18 weeks ended January 1, the Company reported net sales of $82.16 billion, an increase of 7.6 percent from $76.34 billion last year. Comparable sales grew 6.1 percent, while e-commerce sales fell 4.8 percent.

Costco currently operates 847 warehouses, including 583 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, and various other countries. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, among others.

In pre-market activity on Nasdaq, Costco shares were gaining around 2.2 percent to trade at $459.94.