Issaquah, Wash. – No. 1 wholesale club Costco said its third-quarter profits edged up 3 percent to $473 million.
Net sales for the period, ended May 11, increased 7 percent, to $25.2 billion, and U.S. comp sales excluding gasoline rose 6 percent.
In a research note, Janney Montgomery Scott retail analyst David Strasser suggested that unfavorable foreign exchange rates and lower gas prices crimped Costco’s otherwise solid sales performance.
The company currently operates 655 locations worldwide, including 464 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and plans to open eight new stores by the end of August.
