Analysts failing to connect the dots. Costco same store sales= massive food (and gasoline) inflation, not bigger appetites ("demand").
Reuters
UPDATE - Costco May same-store sales up 16 pct
Thursday June 3, 7:19 am ET
(Adds details. Changes dateline from NEW YORK)
CHICAGO, June 3 (Reuters) - Costco Wholesale Corp. (NasdaqNM:COST - News) on Thursday reported a 16 percent jump in May sales at stores open at least a year, helped by strong demand for food and higher-priced electronic items.
The increase beat the average analyst estimate of 10.3 percent posted by market research firm Thomson First Call (News - Websites) .
The largest U.S. warehouse club operator said total sales for the four weeks ended May 30 were $3.80 billion, up 19 percent from a year earlier.
The latest four-week period included 28 days of sales compared to 27 days last year, reflecting the timing of Memorial Day. The extra day added about 3 percent to sales, the company said.
Higher gasoline prices added 1.35 percentage points to the company's same-store sales increase, Costco said. It sold gas at an average of $2.02 a gallon in May, up from $1.51 a year ago.
The weak dollar helped sales internationally, though the effect has abated. The weak dollar, which boosts the value of sales overseas in U.S. currency terms,, added less than one-half a percentage point to sales, down from a peak of about 3 percentage points last year, the company said. |
