Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) reports a 9% increase in net income and significant gains in e-commerce sales for Q4 2024.

My name is Krista, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Costco Wholesale Corporation fourth quarter 2024 conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise.

Headed into fiscal 2025, the company continues to build on its success–literally. In light of its growing digital and physical store business, Costco opened 30 new warehouses this year. The company now runs 891 such sites.

Nonfood had the highest comparable sales in Q4, with Costco’s fresh department posting single-digit year-over-year growth. An expanded and elevated health and beauty category also performed well while pharmacy experienced double-digit growth.

Costco's merchandise costs rose to $69.588 billion for the quarter, up from $69.219 billion a year earlier. Also, selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses climbed to $7.067 billion from $6.939 billion.

Costco's SG&A optimization and productivity improvements are expected to offset margin pressures, maintaining a positive growth trajectory. See why COST stock is a Buy.

Costco’s stock (COST) has surged over 66% in the past year, driven by strong sales, membership loyalty, and consistent earnings growth.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) is set to report fourth quarter results on Thursday. Wall Street expects the retailer to post EPS of $5.08, while revenue is expected to rise 1.4% to $80.03 billion during the quarter.