This story has been updated to correct the total revenue, which we previously identified as missing analysts’ expectations.
Costco reported first-quarter earnings Thursday.
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Costco Wholesale Corp. on Thursday reported first-quarter profit and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, as executives said the company is weathering supply-chain issues and inflationary pressures better than other retailers.
“We’ve ordered earlier in many cases given the longer lead times,” said Richard Galanti, Costco’s chief financial officer, during the company’s earnings call. “We feel pretty good about staying in stock and mitigating price increases as best we can.”
Later, in response to an analyst’s question, Galanti said inflation “helps us a little because of the value proposition that we have.”
Costco COST reported first-quarter net income of $1.32 billion, or $2.98 a share, compared with $1.17 billion, or $2.62 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased to $50.36 billion from $42.35 billion in the year-ago quarter. Comparable-store sales rose 15% overall in the quarter, short of analysts’ expectation of 15.1%.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.15 billion, or $2.62 a share, on revenue of $49.65 billion.
The company’s shares bounced between slight losses and gains in after-hours trading immediately after the report was released. They had declined about 1% in the regular session to close at $524.33. Costco stock has risen about 40% so far this year, compared with the S&P 500 index’s SPX 25% increase in the same period.
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