Costco (COST) is expected to report another big quarterly earnings report.
The wholesale giant is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results after the market closes on Thursday. Wall Street expects sales to rise 1.29% year over year to $79.96 billion and earnings per share to rise 12.2% year over year to $5.69, according to Bloomberg Consensus Estimates.
“We believe Costco’s merchandising efforts, including an attractive assortment of discounted gift cards, have contributed to the significant improvement in recent non-food category trends amid recent discretionary volatility,” Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh wrote in a client note.
Costco’s same-store sales are expected to increase 6.4%, while e-commerce sales are expected to increase 19.63%.
UBS analyst Michael Lasser wrote that the company has consistently increased customer numbers and is “clearly gaining market share” as “general merchandise sales have recovered faster” than its competitors.
Costco’s foot traffic increased 10.5% in August, while traffic at its superstores and wholesale club divisions increased 4.9%, according to data analytics firm Placer.ai.
Another boost for Costco is its first membership fee increase since June 2017.
Effective Sept. 1, Gold Star membership will increase by $5 to $65, and Executive membership will increase by $10 to $130.
The changes are expected to affect approximately 52 million members, just over half of whom are executive members, and dues revenue is expected to increase by high single digits to low double digits.
Wall Street expects membership fees to reach $1.54 billion in the fourth quarter.
Revenue Breakdown:
Here’s what Costco is expected to report in its fourth-quarter earnings report, compared to the same period last year, according to Bloomberg consensus:
Net sales: $79.96 billion ($78.94 billion in the same period last year)
Adjusted EPS: $5.07 (from $4.86)
Company-wide comparison sales excluding fuel: 6.40% (3.80%)
U.S. same-store sales growth: 5.96% vs. 3.10%
Canadian same-store sales growth: 7.35% vs. 7.40%
Other international: 8.62% vs. 4.40%
E-commerce growth: 19.63% vs. -0.60%
Membership dues revenue: $1.54 billion vs. $1.51 billion
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Brooke DiPalma is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.Brooke DePalma Or email me at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com
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