The final result you summarize based on positive and negative content needs to be objective, neutral, and dialectical.
Here are the specific viewpoints from the earnings call:
Bullish Points:
1. In the first quarter of fiscal '25, Costco opened seven new warehouses, including one relocation, resulting in six net new buildings, of which four were outside of the U.S.
2. The opening of the 897th warehouse in Pleasanton, California, had the highest-ever opening day sales for a U.S. warehouse at $2.9 million.
3. Costco projects 29 openings during fiscal year '25, of which three will be relocations and 26 net new buildings. Ten of those warehouses will be outside of the U.S.
4. The U.S. bakery division reached new records of 4.2 million pies sold in the three days prior to Thanksgiving.
5. The U.S. food courts set a new record of 274,000 whole pizzas sold on Halloween Day, an increase of 21%.
6. The U.S. pharmacy business saw prescription growth exceeding 19% for the first quarter, setting new volume records.
7. Costco Logistics completed nearly 1 million deliveries in Q1 and over 196,000 deliveries in one week alone, a new record.
8. Net income for the first quarter was $1.798 billion or $4.04 per diluted share, up from $1.589 billion or $3.58 per diluted share in the first quarter last year.
9. Net sales for the first quarter were $60.99 billion, an increase of 7.5% from $56.72 billion in the first quarter last year.
10. E-commerce comp sales were up 13% or 13.2% adjusted for FX.
11. Membership fee income was $1.166 billion, an increase of $84 million or 7.8% year over year.
12. Costco ended Q1 with 77.4 million paid household members, up 7.6% versus last year, and 138.8 million cardholders, up 7.2% year over year.
13. Executive Members now represent 46.8% of paid members and 73.1% of worldwide sales.
14. Costco's gross margin rate in the first quarter was higher year over year by 24 basis points, coming in at 11.28% compared to 11.04% last year.
15. Costco's U.S. app was downloaded 2.9 million times in the quarter, bringing total downloads to approximately 42 million.
16. Costco Next, the curated marketplace, achieved record sales over the Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday sales period.
Bearish Points:
1. The U.S. and Canada renewal rate was 92.8%, down 0.1% from Q4 end. The worldwide rate came in at 90.4%, also down 0.1%.
2. The operations component of SG&A was higher or worse by 15 basis points and higher four basis points, excluding gas deflation, driven by higher employee wages.
3. Interest income faced headwinds in the quarter due to lower cash balances subsequent to the special dividend in January 2024 and lower interest rates.
4. Gas sales were negative low double digits due to the average price per gallon being down low double digits.
5. The predictability of on-time shipping delivery remains below pre-COVID levels, and items are generally spending more time on the water.
6. Costco's renewal rates are seeing some impact from higher growth in digital sign-ups, which renew at a slightly lower rate than the base as a whole.
For more information about Costco(COST)'s earnings call, you can read the relevant news: Costco Wholesale (COST) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
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