September 30, 2026 – Higher fuel prices lifted reported sales, while membership fees continued to grow. Adjusted comparable sales rose a steadier 6.7%.
In Summary
Costco’s fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose to $2.998 billion, or $6.75 a share, from $5.87.
Net sales grew 11.2% to $93.9 billion; comparable sales rose 9.4%, or 6.7% excluding gasoline and currency.
Membership fee income reached $5.907 billion for the year, up about 11%.
A 15-cent one-off benefit from IEEPA tariff refunds helped the quarter.
Costco earnings rose 15% in its fiscal fourth quarter as higher fuel prices and steady membership fees lifted results. Net income reached $2.998 billion, or $6.75 a diluted share.
The warehouse club reported the results on 24 September. The quarter covered 16 weeks to 30 August. A year earlier, Costco earned $2.610 billion, or $5.87 a share.
Net sales rose 11.2% to $93.9 billion in the quarter, up from $84.4 billion. Total revenue, including membership fees, reached $95.7 billion.
Investors liked what they saw. The shares rose 2.9% to $922.77 the next day, according to Nasdaq data. They then closed little changed on Monday at $922.92.
What drove the Costco earnings beat
Fuel played a big part. Comparable sales rose 9.4% across the company. However, excluding gasoline prices and currency moves, growth was 6.7%.
The gap was widest in the US. Reported US comparable sales jumped 10.7%, but the adjusted figure was 7.2%. Elsewhere, Canada grew 5.0%, and other international markets rose 7.0%.
Digital sales were a bright spot. Online comparable sales rose 19.5%, or 19.8% on an adjusted basis. That growth did not depend on fuel at all.
Across the full year, the picture was similar. Total comparable sales grew 8.4%, or 6.6% after adjusting for fuel and currency. Digital sales grew 20.9%.
By region, full-year US comparable sales rose 8.2%, or 6.6% adjusted. Canada grew 7.8%, and other international markets rose 9.8%. After adjustments, all three regions landed between 6.5% and 6.7%.
How fuel shapes the numbers
Pump prices explain much of the difference. US regular gasoline averaged about $4.10 a gallon over Costco’s fourth quarter, based on weekly government data. A year earlier, it averaged about $3.14, so prices were roughly 31% higher.
Higher fuel prices raise Costco’s sales figures, since it sells large volumes of petrol. They can also bring shoppers to its warehouses, where many buy other goods on the same trip.
However, fuel carries thin margins. As a result, a sales boost from gasoline adds much less to profit than the same boost from general merchandise.
The effect is not over yet. Regular gasoline cost about $4.48 a gallon in the week to 21 September, against about $3.17 a year earlier. That suggests fuel will keep inflating reported sales this autumn.
Membership fees keep rising
Membership fees are Costco’s steadiest source of profit. Fee income rose to $1.850 billion in the quarter from $1.724 billion a year earlier.
For the full year, fee income reached $5.907 billion, up from $5.323 billion. That is growth of about 11%. Put another way, fees equalled about 64% of the year’s net income.
Full-year net sales grew 10.1% to $297.2 billion. Net income climbed to $9.226 billion, or $20.76 a share, from $8.099 billion, or $18.21.
One item helped the quarter. Costco booked a non-recurring benefit of 15 cents a share from tariff refunds under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Without it, earnings per share would have been about $6.60, still up about 12%.
The refund was modest in dollar terms. Based on the share count implied by the results, it added roughly $67 million to quarterly profit, a Catenaa estimate.
Profitability edged up overall. Net income equalled about 3.1% of total revenue in the quarter, compared with about 3.0% a year earlier. For a low-margin retailer, even a small shift like that adds up quickly across a full year of sales.
What investors will watch
Costco now runs 939 warehouses. They include 647 in the US and Puerto Rico, 115 in Canada and 43 in Mexico. The rest are spread across Asia, Europe and Australia, with Japan the largest of those markets at 37.
The stock has cooled after a strong spring. It hit a closing high of $1,094.32 on 19 May. At Monday’s close, it was about 16% below that peak, though still about 7% higher for the year.
Valuation stays rich. At $922.92, the shares trade at about 44 times full-year earnings per share. That premium leaves little room for disappointment.
Next, investors will watch monthly sales, including the September report in early October. The company’s Form 8-K and later SEC filings will show whether fuel keeps inflating the numbers. For retail and consumer stocks, Costco earnings remain a useful read on shoppers facing high fuel costs.
