Costco Reports Strong Q3 Results, Sales Up 11.6% as Digital Growth Surges

Costco Wholesale Corp. reported strong fiscal third-quarter results on May 28, with net sales for the 12 weeks ended May 10, 2026 rising 11.6% to $69.154 billion and net income increasing to $2.192 billion, or $4.93 per diluted share, from $1.903 billion, or $4.28 per diluted share, a year earlier, according to Costco’s earnings release.

Costco said comparable sales for the quarter increased 9.8% on a reported basis and 6.6% after excluding the effects of gasoline prices and foreign exchange. Digitally enabled comparable sales jumped 21.5% in the period, while membership fee revenue totaled $1.373 billion. Quarterly operating income was $2.815 billion, Costco said.

For the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2026, Costco reported net sales of $203.374 billion, up 9.6% from $185.480 billion in the year-earlier period, and net income of $6.228 billion, or $14.01 per diluted share, up from $5.489 billion, or $12.34 per diluted share. Membership fee revenue for the 36-week period was $4.057 billion, according to the May 28 earnings release.

Those figures are closely watched because Costco’s business is driven not only by merchandise sales but also by recurring membership fees, which help support its membership-based retail model. The quarter also extended a recent pattern of strong digitally enabled sales growth alongside physical expansion. As of May 10, Costco operated 931 warehouses worldwide, including 639 in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to the release.

The results come as Costco continues to invest in growth. In prior investor commentary, management said it planned about 28 net new warehouse openings in fiscal 2026 and expected to keep opening more than 30 net warehouses annually over the longer term. Management also previously pointed to about $6.5 billion in fiscal 2026 capital spending for new warehouses, depots, remodels and digital initiatives. Costco said cash and cash equivalents totaled $18.946 billion as of May 10, up from $14.161 billion at Aug. 31, 2025. For the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2026, it reported net cash provided by operating activities of $11.133 billion and additions to property and equipment of $4.228 billion.