Costco Dips 1.5% After Reporting Flat May Comparable Sales

Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation COST were trading lower by more than 1.5 percent early Thursday morning after the company released sales metrics for the month.

Costco said total net sales for the month of May rose 3 percent from a year ago to $9.32 billion. The company noted it gained from one additional sales day in the U.S. compared to last year due to the timing of Memorial Day, which positively impacted net and comparable sales by an estimated 2.5 percent as a whole and 3.5 percent in the U.S.

Comparable store sales were flat for the company as a whole but rose 1 percent in the U.S. Comparable sale fell 1 percent in Canada and fell 3 percent in its other international markets.

Excluding the negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange, same-store sales for the whole company rose 4 percent and would have risen 4 percent in the U.S., 6 percent in Canada and 3 percent in its other international markets.

For the 39-week period ending May 29, total sales rose 2 percent from a year ago to $87.18 billion while same-store sales are flat over the same time period.