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Costco same-store sales fell, but total sales were up 0.4% from June 2022.
Bing Guan/Bloomberg
Costco Wholesale
posted another month of same-store sales declines in June, the company said on Thursday, but a drop in the price of gasoline, rather than shoppers holding back, is mainly responsible.
Same-store sales fell by 1.4% last month, led by a 2.5% decline in the U.S. That follows a 0.3% drop in same-store sales in May.
Total sales were $22.86 billion, up 0.4% from the same period last year, marking a deceleration from May’s 1.2% year-over-year increase.
While gas prices reached record highs a year ago, boosting the company’s top line, as Barron’s reported at the time, that has reversed itself. Worldwide, the average price per gallon was down 24% in June compared with last year, Costco said.
Costco estimates that the price decline dragged down total-store comparable sales by 4 percentage points. Not counting moves in gasoline prices and foreign- exchange rates, same-store sales in June increased by 3%, with upticks across the U.S., Canada, and other international markets.
While the average amount spent per visit fell by 5.4% in June—some of that tied to gas prices—foot traffic was up almost across the board. In the U.S., comparable store traffic rose 3.6%.
Even e-commerce same-store sales improved. On an unadjusted basis, e-commerce sales were down 0.7% from a year earlier last month, better than May’s 7.6% decline.
Some of the company’s strongest categories included food, sundries, candy, tires, and health and beauty.
Costco stock dipped 0.8% to $533.04 in after-hours trading on Thursday. The stock is up 17% this year.
Write to Sabrina Escobar at [email protected]
Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/costco-same-store-sales-drop-gas-prices-1e4ab7f7?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo