Costco comps beat Sam’s but BJ’s didn’t

Costco and BJ’s were out with quarterly results this week following the release of Sam’s Club results last week that included flat operating profits and a 2.7% same-store sales increase excluding gas. Those results, characterized by Sam’s Club president and CEO Brian Cornell as strong and very pleasing, are consistent with results out this week from club competitors. Both Costco and BJ’s reported quarterly results that were in-line with or beat analysts’ expectations.

Costco reported net sales of $20.45 billion for its second quarter ended February 13, an increase of 11% from sales of $18.36 billion for the same period last year.

The sales results were favorably by sales from Costco’s 50% owned Mexico joint venture, which accounted for approximately three percentage points of the increase for both the quarter and the year-to-date sales, Costco reported. Costco’s U.S. comps were up 5% for the quarter, while total comps were up 7%. Excluding the impact of fuel, U.S. comps saw a 3% increase, while total comps rose 4%.

Net income for the quarter was $348 million, or 79 cents per diluted share, in line with analysts’ consensus expectations, and compared to net income of $299 million, or 67 cents per diluted share, the company reported last year.

BJ’s reported that net sales for its fourth quarter ended Jan. 29, were $2.9 billion, an increase of 7.4% over the prior-year period. Same-store sales increased by 3.8%. Excluding fuel, comps were up 1.7%. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $10.2 million, or 19 cents per diluted share. These results include post-tax expense of $41.1 million for club closures, restructuring activities and asset impairment charges, the company reported. Excluding the post-tax expense of $41.1 million, adjusted non-GAAP net income was $51.3 million, or 95 cents per diluted share.