Established in 1976 in Seattle$Costco (COST.US)$It is one of the oldest and most famous retailers among membership-based warehousing retailers. Costco continued to show a strong growth trend in the latest quarter as inflationary pressure eased and consumers resumed spending on non-essential goods.

According to financial data, Costco's third-fiscal quarter revenue reached 58.52 billion US dollars, exceeding market expectations of 57.98 billion US dollars; adjusted earnings per share were 3.78 US dollars, higher than the forecast of 3.7 US dollars.

In the current environment where consumers seek cost performance, Costco's same-store sales increased 6.5% year over year, and the international business, the Canadian market, and the US market achieved double-digit growth of 8.5%, 7.4%, and 6%, respectively. According to the data, Costco saw a year-on-year increase in passenger traffic this quarter, taking the lead among peers.

Currently, Costco's business footprint has now expanded to 876 warehousing stores, with more than 600 in the US, and the rest in Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said consumer spending on non-essential items such as toys, tires, gardening and beauty care is recovering as inflation cools down.

New CEO Ron Vachris emphasized that the company's competitiveness in the field of necessities of life such as food and eating out is obvious to all, which helps to win the favor of more customers during times of high inflation. He said that unlike rivals such as Target and Walmart, Costco does not need to adopt marketing strategies such as comprehensive price cuts for the time being because the company has done a good job of pricing the products.

However, the price of some products of the company's brand Kirkland Signature, such as pine nuts and frozen shrimp skewers, has actually been lowered.

In addition to the impressive performance of physical stores, Costco's e-commerce business grew 20.7% year over year, mainly due to the increase in online sales in popular categories such as gold and silver, gift cards, and electronics. The number of new mobile app downloads surged 32% to 35 million times. Additionally, the company's partnership with Uber Grocery in the US and Canada continues to grow.

The logistics and delivery business is also a highlight. Delivery volume increased 28% year over year in the last quarter, involving various categories such as TVs, computers, appliances, tires, and mattresses, directly competing with retailers such as Best Buy.

In order to develop in the long term and attract more young customers, Costco is still trying to sell some warehouse inventory directly online, but Vachris said the company will continue to maintain and improve the physical store shopping experience.

In addition to product sales, membership services are an important source of profit for Costco. Membership fee revenue for the last quarter reached US$1.12 billion, up 7.6% year over year, in line with expectations. The annual fee for a regular Gold membership is $60, while a Premium member is required to pay $120. Some analysts expect Costco to raise membership fees this summer, but executives are still tight-lipped about it. In the third quarter, the company had a total of 74.5 million paid members, of which 34.5 million were premium members.

Looking ahead, developing an advertising business is seen as another potential growth opportunity for Costco. Looking at the industry, thanks to the huge population data resources of its members, Walmart Connect, the US media business of industry giant Walmart, recorded a 26% increase in revenue in the last quarter.

Costco's stock price has risen nearly 24% so far this year, far outperforming the S&P 500 index (10%).

Editor/Somer