Costco's report of 11% sales growth in March is "exceptionally strong" and suggests some membership growth, Mizuho analysts write in a note, especially given fears of a slowdown in consumer spending from the war in Iran. They note Costco posting 25% to 30% acceleration in the gas business and an 18% increase in the average price per gallon, which implies double-digit growth in gas volumes. "We believe this trend could have driven some incremental new member growth, offsetting the expected impact from lower-margin 'penny profit' fuel sales becoming a larger percentage of revenues in the fiscal Q3 period," they write. They also noted cannibalization, a measure of sales "stolen" by Costco opening its own warehouses nearby overburdened locations, slowing to around 40 basis points. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
Costco Wholesale Corporation specializes in the distribution of products and services at discount prices (food, sports equipment, household appliances, books, toys, jewelry, TVs, cameras, photo developing and printing services, etc.). The group develops its activity through a network of warehouse stores opened to individuals or companies who have paid a subscription fee. Net sales break down by revenue source as follows:
- sales of products (98.1%);
- sales of subscriptions (1.9%).
As of 31/08/2025, Costco Wholesale Corporation had a network of 914 warehouse stores located in the United States and Puerto Rico (629), Canada (110), Mexico (42), Japan (37), the United Kingdom (29), Korea (20), Australia (15), Taiwan (14), China (7), Spain (5), France (2), Sweden (2), New Zealand and Iceland.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (72.7%), Canada (13.4%) and other (13.9%).
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