Costco Sales Up Despite Fuel Price Drop, Strong Dollar

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) this morning reported net sales of $7.25 billion for the month of July, an increase of 8% from $6.74 billion during the similar period of last year.

The Issaquah, Wash.-based membership warehouse operator posted a 5% increase in same-store sales for the month of July, and said that lower fuel prices and a strong dollar negatively affected its results. Excluding those effects, Costco posted a July same-store sales increase of 7%.

Analysts had expected Costco’s July sales to increase 4%, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters estimates.

Costco is inactive in premarket trading. It closed Tuesday 0.3% lower to $96.18. The 52-week range is $70.22 to $97.76. Before this news, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had a mean price target that is less than the current share price.