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Costco, the membership-only retailer listed on NASDAQ as COST, revealed a robust 9.9% surge in net sales, amounting to $26.15 billion for the retail month of December compared to the previous year.
Following this news, shares of COST experienced a nearly 1% uptick in extended trading.
December not only proved to be a significant sales driver for the company, but also marked a win for investors. The total company comparable sales for the month showed an 8.5% increase. This figure climbed to 8.1% when adjusting for the impact of gasoline prices and foreign exchange.
The retailer attributed part of December’s success to an additional shopping day, a sweet by-product of the timing of New Year’s Day, which contributed to a three percent boost in total and comparable sales.
The U.S. comparable sales for December followed suit with a 7.3% rise, increasing to 7.4% when excluding gasoline prices and foreign exchange. Meanwhile, the retailer’s e-commerce comparable sales for December showed substantial growth, climbing 17.7%, or 17.4% when excluding certain items.
Notably, for the seventeen weeks ending December 31, 2023, the company reported net sales of $82.86 billion, marking a 5.9% increase. Although this is a strong performance, it is worth noting that net sales for the seventeen weeks were tempered by about one-half to one percent due to the fifty-third week in fiscal year 2023.
