Costco Wholesale
ended 2023 with a bang as holiday shoppers gave the retailer a boost.
Costco’s revenue jumped 9.9% from a year earlier to $26.2 billion in December, the company said Thursday. It marks an acceleration from November’s 5.1% increase.
Same-store sales, which measure sales growth in stores open for more than a year, also rose more quickly, up 8.5% compared with the same period a year ago. In November, same-store sales were up 3.5%.
Excluding fluctuations in gasoline prices and foreign-exchange rates, same-store sales rose 8.1%.
Holiday shopping was largely behind the surge. Foot traffic, a measure of the number of people visiting stores, increased 6.5% in the U.S. and 7.5% worldwide.
While food and sundries were the categories with the highest sales in December, gifts cards and jewelry were also popular, Josh Dahmen, Costco’s assistant vice president of financial planning and investor relations, said on a call Thursday.
E-commerce same-store sales, which tend to skew toward discretionary purchases, surged 17.7% in December.
Costco stock has gained 1.1% in premarket trading. Shares have gained 44% over the course of the last 12 months.
Write to Sabrina Escobar at [email protected]
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