Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports Third Quarter and Year-to-Date Operating Results for Fiscal 2022

ISSAQUAH, Wash., May 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: COST) today announced its operating results for the third quarter (twelve weeks) and the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2022, ended May 8, 2022.

Net sales for the quarter increased 16.3 percent, to $51.61 billion, from $44.38 billion last year. Net sales for the first 36 weeks increased 16.4 percent, to $151.97 billion, from $130.61 billion last year.

Comparable sales for the third quarter fiscal 2022 were as follows:

*Excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange.

Net income for the quarter was $1,353 million, $3.04 per diluted share, which included a one-time $77 million pretax charge, $0.13 per diluted share, for incremental benefits awarded under the new employee agreement effective March 14. Last year’s third quarter net income was $1,220 million, $2.75 per diluted share, which included $57 million pretax, $0.09 per diluted share, in COVID-19 related costs, primarily from $2 per hour premium pay. Net income for the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2022 was $3.98 billion, $8.94 per diluted share, compared to $3.34 billion, $7.51 per diluted share, last year.

Costco currently operates 830 warehouses, including 574 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 30 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 13 in Australia, four in Spain, two each in France and China, and one in Iceland. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.

A conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (PT) today, May 26, 2022, and is available via a webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and “Play Webcast”).

Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including exchange rates, inflation or deflation, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, breaches of security or privacy of member or business information, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, capital spending, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (generally including health-care costs), energy and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions (including tariffs and the Ukraine conflict), the ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, regulatory and other impacts related to climate change, and COVID-19 related factors and challenges, including (among others) the duration of the pandemic, the unknown long-term economic impact, reduced shopping due to illness, travel restrictions or financial hardship, shifts in demand for products, reduced workforces due to illness, quarantine, or government mandates, temporary store closures or operational limitations due to government mandates, or supply-chain disruptions, capacity constraints of third-party logistics suppliers, and other risks identified from time to time in the Company’s public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company does not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law.

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (dollars in millions, except per share data) (unaudited)

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (amounts in millions, except par value and share data) (unaudited)

Subject to Reclassification