Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello. I'm Andrew Yoon, Director of Finance and Investor Relations, and I will review our sales results for the 5-week retail month of June, which started on Monday, June 1, and ended on Sunday, July 5. This period is compared to the 5 weeks that began last year on Monday, June 2, and ended on Sunday, July 6. This call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results and/or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those outlined in today's call and sales release as well as other risks identified from time to time in the company's public statements and reports filed with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake to update them, except as required by law. Comparable sales and comparable sales, excluding all gasoline sales and the impact of foreign exchange are intended as supplemental information and are not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. As reported in our release, net sales for the month came in at $29.24 billion, an increase of 10.6% from $26.44 billion last year. Reported comparable sales for the month were as follows: U.S., 10.6%; Canada, 3.7%; Other International, 4.7%; total company, 8.8%; digitally enabled 20.9%. Comparable sales for the month, excluding the impacts of changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange were as follows: U.S., 7.6%; Canada, 4.9%; Other International, 5.6%; total company, 7.0%; digitally enabled 21.5%. Total company comparable sales for the month, excluding all gas sales and the impact of foreign exchange was approximately 7.0%. Our comp traffic or frequency for the month was up 3.2% worldwide and in the U.S. Foreign currencies year-over-year relative to the U.S. dollar impacted total and comparable sales as follows: Canada negatively by approximately 3.0% Other International negatively by approximately 1.9% and total company negatively by approximately 0.7%. Gas price inflation positively impacted total reported comp sales by approximately 2.5%. The average worldwide selling price per gallon was up 22.4% versus last year. Worldwide, the average transaction was up 5.5%, which includes the impacts from gas inflation and FX. Excluding gas inflation and FX, average transaction was up 3.7%. In terms of regional and merchandising categories, the general highlights were as follows: U.S. regions with the strongest comparable sales were the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast. Other International and local currencies, we saw the strongest results in Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Korea. The negative impact of cannibalization was approximately minus 50 basis points for the total company. Moving to merchandising highlights. The following comparable sales results by category for the month exclude the impact of foreign exchange. Foods & Sundries was positive low to mid-single digits. Better-performing departments included food, candy and frozen foods. Fresh Foods were up mid-single digits. Better-performing departments included bakery and meat. Non-Foods were positive mid- to high single digits. Better performing departments included jewelry, home furnishings and majors. Ancillary business sales were up high 20s. Pharmacy, gas and hearing aids were the top performers. Gas was up low 30s, driven by price per gallon changes year-over-year. Looking ahead, the July reporting period will include the 4 weeks beginning July 6 and ending August 2, 2026, compared to the 4 weeks beginning July 7 and ending August 3, 2025. If you have any Investor Relations questions, please call Josh Dahmen at (425) 313-8254, Bryan Starnes at (425) 427-7403, or me at (425) 313-6305. This recording will be available until 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Wednesday, July 15.