Costco's second-quarter performance exceeded expectations; stock price slightly declined

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in Washington State reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations. Despite strong performance, the stock fell 0.3% after the announcement.

The warehouse retailer posted adjusted earnings of $4.58 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.03. Revenue reached $69.6 billion, beating the expected $69.25 billion and up 9.1% from $62.53 billion a year earlier. The company’s press release showed net sales for the quarter were $68.24 billion.

Comparable sales for the second quarter increased 7.4%, or 6.7% excluding the effects of gasoline prices and currency exchange rates. U.S. comparable sales grew 5.9%, while Canada and other international markets performed even better, with increases of 10.1% and 13.0%, respectively. Digital sales surged 22.6% during this period.

Net profit for the quarter was $2.04 billion, compared to $1.79 billion in the same period last year. For the first 24 weeks of fiscal 2026, net profit reached $4.04 billion, or $9.08 per diluted share, higher than last year’s $3.59 billion, or $8.06 per share.

The company reported February sales of $21.69 billion, up 9.5% from $19.81 billion a year earlier. February comparable sales increased 7.9%, with the timing of Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year positively impacting international sales by about 4.0%.

Costco currently operates 924 warehouse stores worldwide, including 634 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 114 in Canada, and 176 in other international markets. The company also runs e-commerce websites in eight countries.

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