Costco’s April net sales rise by 5%

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale reported net sales during April came in at $9.42 billion, an increase of 5% compared to the $8.98 billion it earned in the same month in 2016. The company noted it also had one fewer sales day due to the timing of Easter, which likely affected net and comparable sales by 1.5% to 2%.

For the month of April, categorized as the four-week period ended April 30, Costco’s U.S. sales were by far its strongest, with comparable-store sales rising 4% year over year. When excluding the impacts of gasoline prices and foreign exchange, Costco’s U.S. comparable-store sales rose 3%.

Conversely, Canadian comparable-store sales declined 1% in April, but when backing out gasolines price and foreign exchange impacts, they would have increased by 3%.

Costco currently operates 729 warehouses, including 508 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 95 in Canada, 37 in Mexico, 28 in the United Kingdom, 25 in Japan, 13 in Korea, 13 in Taiwan, eight in Australia and two in Spain.