Costco's 4Q Net Climbs 27%, Surpasses Estimates

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) beat the Street Wednesday morning with a 27% leap in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings as the company capitalized on a healthy increase in same-store sales and membership fees.

Shares of Costco jumped about 3% in the wake of the stronger-than-expected results, putting them on track to extend their 2012 rally of about 19%.

The warehouse club operator said it earned $609 million, or $1.39 a share, last quarter, compared with a profit of $478 million, or $1.08 a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it earned $1.37 a share, surpassing forecasts from analysts for $1.31.

Revenue increased 14% to $32.22 billion, topping the Street’s view of $31.69 billion. Same-store sales grew by 6% when foreign exchange fluctuations and inflation in gas prices have been excluded and by 8% internationally.

Membership fees jumped 17.6% to $694 million, while operating margins expanded to 2.9% from 2.7%.

Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco saw its shares rise 2.77% to $102.40 in premarket trading.

Other big-name retailers like Macy’s (NYSE:M) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) are scheduled to release quarterly results in November.