Costco sales top estimates by $1 billion, but misses on same-store sales

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Costco Wholesale Corp. brought in $1 billion more than expected in revenue in its latest quarter, keeping the retailer on track for its first $200 billion year.

Costco
COST,
+5.65%
reported third-quarter earnings of $1.35 billion, or $3.04 a share, on sales of $52.6 billion, up from profit of $2.75 a share on revenue of $45.28 billion a year ago. Analysts on average expected earnings of $3.04 a share on sales of $51.56 billion, according to FactSet.

Through nine months of its fiscal year, Costco has reaped sales of $151.97 billion, with analysts projecting annual revenue of $223.38 billion. Costco finished last year just short of the $200 billion mark, producing revenue of $195.93 billion.

The company’s sales increase at stores open at least a year came up short of analysts’ average estimate, however. Same-store sales increased 10.8%, while analysts on average were projecting 11.8%, according to FactSet.

Costco shares declined more than 1% in after-hours trading following the release of the results. The stock has declined 18.1% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+1.99%
has fallen 16.5%.