Why the Costco Q1 Report Was Not Good Enough

When Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) released its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday, the company said that it had $1.61 in earnings per share (EPS) and $35.07 billion in revenue. That compared with consensus estimates of $1.62 in EPS and $34.63 billion in revenue, as well as the $1.45 per share and $31.81 billion posted in the same period of last year.

In the most recent quarter, total company comparable sales, excluding foreign exchange and gasoline prices, increased 7.5%. This consisted of an 8.3% increase in comparable sales in the United States and a 5.5% increase in Canada’s comparable sales.

E-commerce comparable sales totaled 32.3% for the quarter, while adjusted comparable sales only increased 26.2%.

On the books, Costco cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $7.95 billion at the end of the quarter, up from $7.26 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Richard Galanti, Costco’s chief financial officer, commented on the conference call:

In terms of number of members, at first quarter end, Gold Star at Q1 end was 41.3 million, and that compares to 12 weeks earlier of 40.7 million; Business Primary, 7.6 million both at quarter end — this first quarter end and the year-end. Business add-ons stayed at 3.3 million. All told, we started the fiscal year — or we ended last fiscal year with 51.6 million members. We ended Q1 at 52.2 million. Total cardholders at year-end from last quarter was 94.3 million, and again, at this first quarter end, it was 95.4 million.

Shares of Costco closed Thursday at $226.51, in a 52-week range of $175.79 to $245.16. The consensus analyst price target is $243.17. Following the announcement, the stock was down nearly 4% at $218.02 in early trading indications Friday.