On December 12th Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) posted results for Q1 FY 2025 ending November 24th 2024. The Company exceeded the consensus for earnings and revenue. Increased membership fees boosted revenue for the most recent quarter. COSTCO is the leading club chain serving as a bellwether for omni-channel warehouse in-store and on-line buying. The Company is a barometer of consumer confidence, offering groceries, clothing, household necessities in bulk in addition to discretionary appliances, recreational, luxury and electronic items.
For the most recent quarter, the Company earned $1,798 million on revenue (including fuel and membership fees) of $62,151 million with a diluted EPS of $4.04. For the corresponding Q1 of FY 2024 ending November 26th, Costco earned $1,889 million on equivalent revenue of $57,799 million with a diluted EPS of $3.58. Results for Q1 2024 included a tax benefit of $44 million.
For Q1 2025 revenue was 7.5 percent higher than in Q1 FY 2024 and net earnings were up by 13.2 percent. Gross margin for Q1 FY 2025 was 11.3 percent, compared to 11.0 percent for the corresponding quarter in FY 2024. Operating income attained 9.4 percent, up from 9.3 percent in Q1 FY 2024, despite increased freight, transport, wages and utilities.
Comparable global same-store sales for Q1 2025 (excluding fuel and foreign exchange) attained 7.1 percent in Q1 2025. U.S. same store sales were up 7.2 percent; Canada by 6.7 percent and the Other International category, by 7.1 percent. E-Commerce was up by 13.0 percent.
Costco raised membership fees as expected in Q4 2024 with revenue in the most recent quarter reaching $1,166 million. At the end of FY 2024 there were 137 million members with 25.9 percent or 35.4 million at the Executive Level accounting for 74 percent of sales.
On November 24th Costco posted total assets of $73,386 million. Long-term debt and lease obligations attained $10,646 million. Costco had an intraday market capitalization of $441,600 million on December 12th. COST trades with a forward P/E of 54.6 and has ranged over the past fifty-two weeks from $630.30 to $1,007.80 with 
a 50-day moving average of $920.75. Costco closed pre-release at $988.68 on December 12th but fluctuated in after-hours trading over a one percent range. Twelve-month trailing operating margin was 3.8 percent and profit margin 2.9 percent. The Company generated a return on assets of 8.4 percent and 30.3 percent on equity. Costo share price is up 50 percent year-to-date
At the end of the recently completed quarter, Costco operated 897 warehouses. There are 617 in the U.S; 109 in Canada; 41 in Mexico; 33 in Japan; 29 in the U.K. and 65 others in seven other nations among the E.U., Asia and Australia. This was a net increase of 7 warehouses during Q4.