ISSAQUAH, Wash.–Costco posted sales and earnings increases for the quarter ended Feb. 17, but missed Wall Street’s expectations.
Net sales for the second quarter increased 12 percent to $16.62 billion. Comparable-store sales for the fiscal second quarter rose 7 percent.
Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 was $327.9 million, compared with $249.5 million in 2007. Last year’s second-quarter results include $84.4 million in non-recurring items.
“While bottom-line earnings-per-share results were in line [with expectations], the composition was not as strong as expected, with gross margins up only 14 basis points year-over-year,” Adrianne Shapira, a Goldman Sachs analyst, said in a research note.