: Costco earnings top Wall Street estimates
Costco Wholesale Corp. COST shares slipped in the extended session Tuesday even after the membership warehouse chain reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street estimates. Costco shares slipped 1.5% after hours, following a 1% decline in the regular session to close at $552.96. Costco reported fourth-quarter net income of $2.16 billion, or $4.86 a share, compared with $1.87 billion, or $4.20 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $78.94 billion from $72.09 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts on average expected earnings of $4.79 a share on sales of $77.72 billion, according to FactSet. Sales at stores open for at least a year rose 1.1%, or 3.8% adjusted for gasoline and currency, compared with the 3.5% Street estimates. Annual revenue rose to $242.29 billion from $226.95 billion in the previous fiscal year. Analysts were forecasting $232.95 billion in revenue. Costco shares have gained 21.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 index SPX has gained 11.3%.
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