Costco logs more than $42B in quarterly sales

Costco Wholesale Corp. on Wednesday reported $42.35 billion in sales for its fiscal first quarter, reflecting heightened consumer demand for the chain's food products and other merchandise as the coronavirus continued to spread this fall.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected sales of $41.7 billion for the period.

Comparable sales, excluding changes in gasoline prices and adjustments for currency fluctuations, were up 17.1% year over year, the Issaquah, Wash.-based retail chain said.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Comparable sales that included those adjustments for the 12-week quarter were up 17% in the U.S., 16.8% in Canada and 17.7% in other international markets. Ecommerce comparable sales were up more than 86%.

In the four-week period that ended Nov. 29, after Thanksgiving, comparable sales were up 14.6% to $15.67 billion, Costco said.