Costco key April sales figures climbs 11 percent, just short of Wall Street’s expectations

Costco key April sales figure rises

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale Corp.’s April revenue at stores open at least a year rose 11 percent partly on an earlier Easter, but were slightly shy of Wall Street’s expectations.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected an 11.2 percent increase.

The warehouse club operator said Thursday that revenue for the period ended May 2 climbed 13 percent to $5.83 billion.

There was one extra day in the month, with an earlier Easter lifting results by about 2 percent to 3 percent.

Removing higher gasoline prices and the weaker dollar, revenue at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent in April.

For the year to date, revenue at stores open at least a year increased 7 percent. Total revenue rose 9 percent to $51.04 billion.

Taking out increased gas prices and the softer dollar, revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 3 percent for the period.

Costco currently operates 567 warehouses, including 414 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 77 in Canada, 21 in the U.K., seven in Korea, six in Taiwan, nine in Japan, one in Australia and 32 in Mexico.