Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)
NASDAQ: COST · Real-Time Price · USD
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Apr 24, 2026, 2:45 PM EDT - Market open
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Monthly Sales Update March 2026

Apr 8, 2026

Andrew Yoon
Director of Finance and Investor Relations, Costco Wholesale

Hello, I'm Andrew Yoon, Director of Finance and Investor Relations, and I'll review our sales results for the five-week retail month of March, which started on Monday, April 2nd and ended on Sunday, April 5th. This period is compared to the five weeks that began last year on Monday, March 3rd and ended on Sunday, April 6th. This call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results, and/or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those outlined in today's call and sales release, as well as other risks identified from time to time in the company's public statements and reports filed with the SEC.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake to update them except as required by law. Comparable sales and comparable sales excluding impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange, are intended as supplemental information and are not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with the U.S. GAAP. As reported in our release, net sales for the month came in at $28.41 billion, an increase of 11.3% from $25.51 billion last year. March had one less shopping day versus last year due to the calendar shift of Easter. This negatively impacted both total and comparable sales by approximately 1.5%. Reported comparable sales for the month were as follows: U.S., 8.7%, Canada, 10.7%, other international, 11.9%, total company, 9.4%, digitally enabled, 23.3%.

Comparable sales for the month, excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange, were as follows: U.S., 6.2%, Canada, 5.4%, other international, 6.6%, total company, 6.2%, digitally enabled, 22.5%. Total company comparable sales for the month, excluding all gas sales, the impact of foreign exchange, and the calendar shift of Easter, was approximately 7.8%. Our comp traffic or frequency for the month, including the negative impact from the Easter shift, was up 1.5% worldwide and 0.7% in the U.S. Foreign currencies year-over-year relative to the U.S. dollar impacted total and comparable sales as follows: Canada, positively by approximately 4.5%, other international, positively by approximately 4.4%, and total company, positively by approximately 1.2%. Gas price inflation positively impacted total reported comp sales by approximately 200 basis points. The average worldwide selling price per gallon was up 17.8% versus last year.

Worldwide, the average transaction was up 7.8%, which includes the impacts from gas inflation and FX. Excluding gas inflation and FX, average transaction was up 4.6%. In terms of regional and merchandising categories, the general highlights were as follows. U.S. regions with the strongest comparable sales were the Southeast, Midwest, and Los Angeles. Other international and local currencies, we saw the strongest results in Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. The negative impact of cannibalization was approximately minus 40 bps for the total company. Moving to merchandising highlights, the following comparable sales results by category for the month exclude the impact of foreign exchange. Foods and sundries were positive, low to mid-single digits. Better-performing departments included food, candy, and sundries. Fresh foods was up mid to high single digits. Better-performing departments included bakery and meat. Non-foods were positive mid to high single digits. Better-performing departments included jewelry, majors, and hardware.

Ancillary business sales were up mid-20s. Pharmacy, gas, and Food Court were the top performers. Gas was up mid to high 20s, driven by price per gallon changes year-over-year, as well as an acceleration in volume growth. Looking ahead, the April reporting period will include the four weeks beginning April 6th and ending May 3rd, 2026, compared to the four weeks beginning April 7th and ending May 4th, 2025. April will benefit from the calendar shift of Easter. If you have any investor relations questions, please call Josh Damon at 425-313-8254 or me at 425-313-6305. This recording will be available until 4:00 P.M. Pacific Time Wednesday, April 15th.

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