Costco The company sold a record amount of gas during the fiscal quarter ending May 10, as consumers sought relief from rising prices caused by conflict in the Middle East.
“Price continues to resonate strongly with our members,” Costco President, CEO and Director Ron Vacris He said Thursday (May 28) during Earnings call. “This has never been more evident in the third quarter of our gas business. As events in the Middle East have had a significant impact on product supplies and gas prices, our focus, as always, is to be there for our members by staying in stock and offering the best value.”
The retailer set company sales volume records during each of the quarter’s three four-week fiscal periods and ended the quarter with its five highest volume weeks ever, Vacris said.
Costco is meeting this unprecedented demand with multiple daily gas deliveries at many of its locations and is finding that “high consumer price sensitivity” is prompting many of its members to use its gas stations for the first time.
“We believe this will lead to greater loyalty for these members in the future, as members who use our gas stations typically spend more with us at the depots,” Vakris said.
Overall, during the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Costco saw year-over-year increases of 11.6% in net sales, which came to $69.15 billion, and 9.8% in comparable sales, it said Thursday. Earnings release.
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Costco’s paid membership grew 4.1% to 82.9 million, and its total cardholders grew 4.0% to 148.5 million, according to Supplementary information Released Thursday.
The company’s comparable digitally-enabled sales increased 21.5%, and its e-commerce site and app traffic increased 37%, according to the supplement.
Same-day delivery supported by Costco’s third-party partners averages a 45-minute delivery time in the U.S. and has received a member satisfaction rating of 4.8 out of 5, Vacris said.
“This part of our business is growing faster than our overall digital business, and is a strong driver of loyalty, as our highest spending members are often the ones who use this service,” Vakris said.
Costco added four warehouses in the third quarter and expects to end the fiscal year with 26 more warehouses than it had at the end of fiscal 2025. This will bring the total number of warehouses to 940, according to the supplement.
“Our real estate and operations team continues to focus on growing our pipeline of new warehouses, both domestically and internationally, as we target more than 30 new openings annually in the coming years,” Vakris said.
