Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports Second Quarter and Year-to-Date Operating Results for Fiscal 2021 and February Sales Results
ISSAQUAH, Wash., March 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: COST) today announced its operating results for the second quarter (twelve weeks) and the first 24 weeks of fiscal 2021, ended February 14, 2021.
Net sales for the quarter increased 14.7 percent, to $43.89 billion, from $38.26 billion last year. Net sales for the first 24 weeks increased 15.8 percent, to $86.23 billion, from $74.49 billion last year.Comparable sales for the second quarter fiscal 2021 were as follows:Net income for the quarter was $951 million, or $2.14 per diluted share, which includes $246 million pretax, or $0.41 per diluted share, in costs incurred primarily from COVID-19 premium wages. Last year’s second quarter net income was $931 million, or $2.10 per diluted share. Net income for the first 24 weeks was $2.12 billion, or $4.76 per diluted share, compared to $1.77 billion, or $4.00 per diluted share, last year.
For the four-week reporting month of February, ended February 28, 2021, the Company reported net sales of $14.05 billion, an increase of 15.2 percent from $12.20 billion last year. For the twenty-six week period ended February 28, 2021, net sales were $93.16 billion, an increase of 15.4 percent from $80.76 billion last year.Comparable sales for the February and year-to-date periods ended February 28, 2021, were as follows:Costco currently operates 804 warehouses, including 558 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 103 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 27 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, three in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.A conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (PT) today, March 4, 2021, and is available via a webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and “Play Webcast”).Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, breaches of security or privacy of member or business information, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, capital spending, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (generally including health-care costs), energy and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions (including tariffs), the ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, COVID-19 related factors and challenges, including (among others) the duration of the pandemic, the unknown long-term economic impact, reduced shopping due to illness, travel restrictions or financial hardship, shifts in demand away from discretionary or higher-priced products, reduced workforces due to illness, quarantine, or government mandates, temporary store closures due to reduced workforces or government mandates, or supply-chain disruptions, capacity constraints of third-party logistics suppliers, and other risks identified from time to time in the Company’s public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company does not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law.
Net sales for the quarter increased 14.7 percent, to $43.89 billion, from $38.26 billion last year. Net sales for the first 24 weeks increased 15.8 percent, to $86.23 billion, from $74.49 billion last year.Comparable sales for the second quarter fiscal 2021 were as follows:Net income for the quarter was $951 million, or $2.14 per diluted share, which includes $246 million pretax, or $0.41 per diluted share, in costs incurred primarily from COVID-19 premium wages. Last year’s second quarter net income was $931 million, or $2.10 per diluted share. Net income for the first 24 weeks was $2.12 billion, or $4.76 per diluted share, compared to $1.77 billion, or $4.00 per diluted share, last year.
For the four-week reporting month of February, ended February 28, 2021, the Company reported net sales of $14.05 billion, an increase of 15.2 percent from $12.20 billion last year. For the twenty-six week period ended February 28, 2021, net sales were $93.16 billion, an increase of 15.4 percent from $80.76 billion last year.Comparable sales for the February and year-to-date periods ended February 28, 2021, were as follows:Costco currently operates 804 warehouses, including 558 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 103 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 27 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, three in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.A conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (PT) today, March 4, 2021, and is available via a webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and “Play Webcast”).Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, breaches of security or privacy of member or business information, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, capital spending, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (generally including health-care costs), energy and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions (including tariffs), the ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, COVID-19 related factors and challenges, including (among others) the duration of the pandemic, the unknown long-term economic impact, reduced shopping due to illness, travel restrictions or financial hardship, shifts in demand away from discretionary or higher-priced products, reduced workforces due to illness, quarantine, or government mandates, temporary store closures due to reduced workforces or government mandates, or supply-chain disruptions, capacity constraints of third-party logistics suppliers, and other risks identified from time to time in the Company’s public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company does not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law.
