Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) saw its third-quarter 2023 net sales edge up 1.9% year over year to $52.6 billion, with net income for the period of $1.3 billion, $2.93 per diluted share, which includes a non-recurring charge to merchandise costs of $298 million.
The charge was primarily for the discontinuation of its charter shipping activities, the company said.
Analysts expected Costco’s 3Q earnings to come in at $3.30 per share on revenue of $54.57 billion.
During the same period last year, the bulk retailer posted earnings per diluted share of $3.04 on $51.61 billion in revenue.
This quarter’s results were impacted by lower consumer spending due to elevated inflation and an uncertain job market.
In February, the company’s chief financial officer Richard Galanti investors that Costco was seeing “weakness in what I'll call big ticket discretionary items” heading into the start of the spring.
The company’s stock price eased as much as 3% in Thursday’s after-hours session.
Costco currently operates 853 warehouses, including 587 in the US and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 32 in Japan, and 29 in the UK.
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