Costco's July Sales Jump Signals Strong Finish to Fiscal 2025
Growth was broad-based, with U.S. comparable sales up 5.5%, Canada advancing 7.6%, and Other International markets surging 9.5%. Adjusted for fluctuations in gasoline prices and foreign exchange, results were even stronger — U.S. comps increased 6.5%, Canada jumped 9.1%, and Other International rose 7.5%, driving a 7% total company gain. This follows adjusted increases of 6.2% in June and 6% in May, underscoring sustained momentum.
E-commerce remained a bright spot, notching a 15.1% gain or 14.9% on an adjusted basis, reinforcing Costco's multi-channel growth strategy. These gains build on June's 11.5% and May's 11.6% advances, highlighting continued strength in Costco's digital channel and its ability to capture shifting consumer preferences.
Overall, July net sales rose 8.5% to $20.89 billion from $19.26 billion a year earlier. For the first 48 weeks of fiscal 2025, net sales totaled $248.35 billion, up 8.1% from the prior year, underscoring Costco's ability to sustain momentum across varying market conditions.
With robust performances across regions and channels, July sales results suggest that Costco is maintaining steady member traffic, healthy basket sizes and broad geographical momentum, all pointing to a resilient finish.
How Are Costco Peers DG & TGT Keeping Up With Sales?
Dollar General Corporation DG reported a 2.4% increase in first-quarter fiscal 2025 same-store sales, driven by a 2.7% rise in the average transaction amount, though partially offset by a 0.3% decline in customer traffic. Dollar General saw growth across all key product categories, including consumables, seasonal, home products and apparel. Dollar General now expects same-store sales to rise between 1.5% and 2.5% compared to its prior forecast of 1.2% to 2.2%.
Target Corporation TGT experienced a 3.8% decline in comparable sales in the first quarter, following a 1.5% increase in the preceding quarter. This drop was attributed to a 5.7% fall in Target's comparable store sales, which was somewhat offset by a 4.7% increase in comparable digital sales. Target highlighted that traffic, or the number of transactions, dropped 2.4%, and the average transaction amount decreased 1.4%.
What the Latest Metrics Say About Costco
Costco stock has been a standout performer, with shares rallying 13.6% in the past year, outpacing the industry 's growth of 10.7%.
From a valuation standpoint, Costco's forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio stands at 49.49, higher than the industry's ratio of 32.85. COST carries a Value Score of D.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Costco's current financial-year sales and earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 8.1% and 11.6%, respectively.
Costco currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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