SEATTLE _ Costco shares were up about 2 percent in after-hours trading Thursday after the warehouse giant reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and showed solid increases in same-store sales.
Costco's earnings per share for the quarter that ended May 7 were $1.59, up 28 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
Excluding non-recurring items, the earnings per share of $1.40 handily beat Wall Street analysts' expectations of $1.31 per share, according to a Reuters consensus estimate.
Revenue (including membership fees) totaled $28.86 billion for the quarter, up 7.8 percent from a year ago. Costco's net sales, which don't include membership fees, totaled $28.22 billion, up 7.9 percent from a year ago.
Wall Street had expected revenue of $28.53 billion.
In the midst of a retail slump, Costco, headquartered outside Seattle, logged some healthy sales increases at stores open at least a year _ also known as same-store sales.
Companywide, Costco's same-store sales grew 5 percent, excluding the impact of fluctuating gas prices and foreign exchange. In the U.S. same-store sales also grew 5 percent.
