The last quarter and first half of Costco Wholesale Corp.’s (NASDAQ: COST) earnings were not particularly impressive. The big-box retailer, once viewed as a better version of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), posted numbers that show its expansion has come down to earth:
Net sales for the quarter increased three percent, to $27.57 billion from $26.87 billion last year. Net sales for the first half increased two percent, to $54.19 billion from $53.16 billion last year.
Better than Wal-Mart, but not by much. The numbers also open the issue of whether online commerce, particularly Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), something that does not appear to have hurt Costco badly in the past, has begun to undermine its results. Costco has one advantage that helps offset stagnant sales. It charges a fee for members to shop at Costco locations.
The bottom line was also short of impressive:
 Net income for the quarter was $546 million, or $1.24 per diluted share, compared to $598 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, last year. Net income for the first half was $1,026 million, or $2.32 per diluted share, compared to $1,094 million, or $2.47 per diluted share, last year.
Comparable store sales were decent in the United States but poor outside the country.
Comparable sales for the 12-week and 24-week periods were as follows:
| 12 Weeks | 24 Weeks | |||
| U.S. | 3% | 3% | ||
| Canada | -7% | -8% | ||
| Other International | -3% | -4% | ||
| Total Company | 1% | 0% |
All and all, not much to leave investors optimistic.
Shares closed Wednesday at $152.79, within a 52-week trading range of $117.03 and $169.73.
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