Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) fell 2.3% in premarket trading Thursday, even after the warehouse club operator reported better-than-expected earnings for the fiscal second quarter..
Costco said it earned $1.38 per share in the quarter ended Feb. 12, compared with $1.32 per share a year earlier. Revenue rose 11.4% to $53.93 billion..
Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.34 per share on revenue of $53.52 billion, according to Refinitiv..
Costco’s comparable sales, a key metric for retailers, rose 10.1% in the quarter, excluding the impact of gasoline sales and foreign currency exchange rates. That was above the 8.6% increase analysts had expected..
The company said it saw strength in its food and beverage, health and beauty, and home and apparel departments..
Costco also said it opened six new warehouses during the quarter, bringing its total number of warehouses to 865 worldwide..
Despite the strong results, Costco’s stock fell in premarket trading. Analysts said the decline may have been due to profit-taking after the stock’s recent rally. Costco’s stock has risen more than 20% in the past year..
In a note to clients, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh said he was impressed with Costco’s results, but he maintained his neutral rating on the stock. He said he believes the stock is fairly valued at current levels..
