Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello. I'm Josh Dahmen, AVP of Finance and Investor Relations, and I will review our sales results for the 5-week retail month of September, which started on Monday, September 2 and ended on Sunday, October 6. This period is compared to the 5 weeks that began last year on Monday, September 4 and ended on Sunday, October 8. 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 our 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 impacts from changes in gasoline prices and 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 $24.62 billion, an increase of 9.0% from $22.59 billion last year. This year's total and comparable sales for the retail month of September benefited by approximately 2% in the U.S. and 1.5% worldwide as a result of the increased sales in the final week of the month due to abnormal consumer activity associated with Hurricane Helene and port strikes. Reported comparable sales for the month were as follows: in the U.S., 6.5%; Canada, 5.7%; Other International, 8.5%; total company, 6.7%; and e-com, 22.9%. Comparable sales for the month, excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange, were as follows: in the U.S., 9.3%; Canada, 6.3%; Other International, 9.6%; total company, 8.9%; and e-com, 22.9%. Our comp traffic or frequency for the month was up 7.2% worldwide and 7.6% in the U.S. Foreign currencies year-over-year relative to the U.S. dollar impacted total and comparable sales as follows: Canada positively by approximately 0.3%; Other International negatively by approximately 0.1%; and total company was approximately flat. Gas price deflation negatively impacted total reported comp sales by approximately 2.2%. The average worldwide selling price per gallon was down approximately 16% versus last year. Worldwide, the average transaction was down about 0.5%, which includes the impacts from gas deflation and FX. In terms of regional and merchandising categories, the general highlights were as follows: U.S. regions with the strongest comparable sales were the Northeast, Southeast and Texas. Other International and local currencies, we saw the strongest results in Mexico, Taiwan and Korea. Moving to merchandise highlights. The following comparable sales results by category for the month exclude the impact of foreign exchange. Food and sundries were positive high single digits; cooler, sundries and frozen were the strongest departments. Fresh foods were up low double digits. Better-performing departments included produce and meat. Nonfoods were positive low teens. Better-performing departments included jewelry, gift cards and home furnishings. Ancillary business sales were down mid-single digits. Pharmacy, food court and optical were the top performers. Gasoline was negative mid-teens due to price deflation. Looking ahead, the October reporting period will include the 4 weeks beginning October 7 and ending November 3 compared to the 4 weeks beginning October 9 and ending November 5, 2023. October sales will be announced Wednesday, November 6 at 1:15 p.m. Pacific Time. If you have any Investor Relations questions, please call David Sherwood at (425) 313-8239, or give me a call at (425) 313-8254. This recording will be available until 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Wednesday, October 16.