Costco sales rise 17.6% in March

Costco Wholesale Corp. reported stronger-than-expected sales for March.

The warehouse club retailer said that sales rose 17.6% to $18.21 billion in March, from $15.49 billion in the year-ago period.  The 2021 five-week retail month had one fewer shopping day versus last year  due to the calendar shift of Easter holiday, Costco said.

Total same-store sales increased 16%, with a 13.9% increase in the United States. Comparable online sales jumped 57.7%.

The retailer said same-store sales rose 16%, including a 13.9% rise for U.S. comparable-store sales. Online sales jumped 57.7%.

The U.S. regions with the strongest sales increases in March were the Southeast, Texas and Midwest, David Sherwood, assistant VP of finance and investor relations, said on the company's call with analysts. Internationally Japan, Korea and the U.K. turned in the top performances. 

For the thirty-one weeks ended April 4, 2021, Costco reported net sales of $111.37 billion, an increase of 15.7% from the year-ago period. Total comp sales for the period increased 14.1%.

Costco currently operates 807 locations, including 559 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 104 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 28 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, three in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China.