By Katherine Hamilton and Elias Schisgall
Costco Wholesale recorded higher revenue from membership fees in the fiscal first quarter as it aims to open more warehouses to drive membership growth.
The wholesale retailer opened eight net new warehouses in the first quarter and plans to open 30 or more annually in future years, Chief Executive Ron Vachris told analysts Thursday. He said Costco also increased the size of its real estate team to support warehouse growth. The efforts come as Costco looks to expand its market share and keep pace with the high rate of membership growth its logged in past years.
"We continue to see significant opportunities for future warehouse growth, both domestically and across the international markets," Vachris said.
The new warehouses added in the quarter included a relocation to Canada, a third Costco warehouse in France and four net new U.S. locations, Vachris said.
Costco recorded a profit of $2.00 billion, or $4.50 a share, in the quarter ended in November, compared with $1.80 billion, or $4.04 a share, a year earlier. The results include a tax benefit of $72 million, or 16 cents per share, the company said.
Revenue rose 8% to $67.31 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet were targeting $67.14 billion.
Membership fees made up $1.33 billion of total sales, a 14% increase from the year before.
Adding more warehouses in new markets may help juice membership growth, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said.
"We can see the maturity curve of the increase in the number of members that sign up as warehouses mature," Millerchip said.
Membership growth has slowed down slightly in recent years, Millerchip said. Costco has been adding new features to its executive membership, such as exclusive extended shopping hours, to try to attract more customers.
Excluding the impact of gas prices and foreign exchange rates, same-store sales rose to 6.4% from 5.2% a year ago, outpacing Wall Street's estimate of 6% growth.
Same-store sales on an adjusted basis in the U.S. rose 5.9%. Costco's Canadian division reported a 9% increase, excluding gas and exchange rates, while international same-store sales rose 6.8%.
Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com and Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 11, 2025 18:41 ET (23:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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