- Revenue: $79.,697,000,000 (Q4 FY2024) up 0.96% YoY and up 36.20% QoQ on the reported 16-week basis, reflecting the extra week in the prior year. When normalized for the extra week, net sales would have been ~7.3% higher YoY.
- Gross Profit: $10,109,000,000; Gross Margin 11.0% (vs 10.6% prior year; up 33 bps excluding gas deflation). Core gross margin rose modestly; ancillary businesses benefited from gas and e-commerce tailwinds.
- Operating Income: $3,042,000,000; operating margin ~3.82% (0.0382).
- Net Income: $2,354,000,000; net margin ~2.95% (0.0295). Adjusted for the $63 million tax benefit and the extra week, YoY growth in net income and EPS was ~12.7% and ~12.6%, respectively.
- EPS: $5.29 (diluted) for the 16-week quarter; $5.30 reported per the release.
- Membership: Membership fee income $1.512 billion, up 0.2% on a one-week headwind; excluding the extra week and FX, membership fee income grew about 7.4%. Global paid memberships ended Q4 at 76.2 million households and 136.8 million cardholders; executive memberships reached 35.4 million (up 9.6% YoY; 46.5% of paid memberships; 73.5% of worldwide sales). US+Canada renewal rate stood at 92.9%; worldwide renewal rate at 90.5%.
- Cash flow and capital expenditure: Net cash provided by operating activities $2.958 billion; Capex $1.577 billion in the quarter; full-year capex $4.710 billion; free cash flow $1.381 billion. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $9.906 billion; cash plus short-term investments $11.144 billion; total assets $69.831 billion; total liabilities $46.209 billion; stockholders’ equity $23.622 billion; net debt of $(1.634) billion (i.e., net cash).
- E-commerce: E-commerce comp sales +18.9% (19.5% FX-adjusted); app downloads ~3.5 million in the quarter (total ~39 million); Costco Next added 11 vendors (total 86); Buy Online, Pickup in Warehouse (BOPIW) for TVs rolled out; gross e-commerce momentum visible in traffic, conversion rates and AOV improvements.
- Store growth and capex: 14 new warehouses in Q4; international expansion remains a priority with 12 planned openings outside the US in FY2025 and a total of 26 net new buildings projected for FY2025.
- EBITDA/LIFO/FX dynamics: LIFO credit of $8 million in Q4 this year versus a $30 million charge in Q4 last year; interest income declined due to lower cash balances and a $6.7 billion special dividend paid in January 2024; FX losses of $18 million vs a $37 million gain last year.