SEATTLE _ Costco Wholesale on Thursday beat Wall Street's earnings estimates for the quarter and fiscal year that ended Aug. 28.
The warehouse giant, headquartered outside Seattle, reported quarterly profit of $779 million, or $1.77 per diluted share, up from $767 million, or $1.73 per diluted share, last year. Analysts had expected earnings per share of $1.73, according to a Reuters average consensus estimate.
For the fiscal year, Costco reported profit of $2.35 billion, or $5.33 per diluted share, down from $2.38 billion, or $5.37 per diluted share, last year. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected fiscal year earnings of $5.29.
Overall revenue for the company went up for the quarter and the fiscal year.
The company reported total revenue (including sales and membership fees) of $36.56 billion for the quarter, up from $35.78 billion last year. The revenue figure came in slightly below analysts' expectations of $36.83 billion.
Excluding membership fees, the company logged sales of $35.73 billion.
For the fiscal year, Costco reported revenue of $118.72 billion, up from $116.2 billion last year. That figure also came in below analysts' estimates of $119.15 billion.
Excluding membership fees, the company logged sales of $116.07 billion for the year.
Sales in stores open at least a year were flat worldwide for both the quarter and the year. Sales in U.S. stores open at least a year declined 1 percent in the quarter, while it rose 1 percent for the fiscal year.
Excluding the negative impacts from gas price decreases and foreign exchange fluctuations, though, comparable sales company-wide grew 3 percent in the quarter and 4 percent for the full fiscal year. In the U.S., such sales rose 2 percent for the quarter, and 3 percent for the year.
Costco shares were up 1.7 percent in after-hours trading to $150.
