Costco Wholesale Corp New (COST) SEC Filing 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending Sunday, May 9, 2021

Exhibit 99.1

Press Release

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION REPORTS THIRD QUARTER AND YEAR-TO-DATE

OPERATING RESULTS FOR FISCAL 2021

ISSAQUAH, Wash., May 27, 2021 - Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: COST) today announced its operating results for the third quarter (twelve weeks) and the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2021, ended May 9, 2021.

Net sales for the quarter increased 21.7 percent, to $44.38 billion, from $36.45 billion last year. Net sales for the first 36 weeks increased 17.7 percent, to $130.61 billion, from $110.94 billion last year.

Comparable sales for the third quarter fiscal 2021 were as follows:

Net income for the quarter was $1,220 million, or $2.75 per diluted share, which included $57 million pretax, or $0.09 per diluted share, in COVID-19 related costs, primarily from $2 per hour premium pay. Last year’s third quarter net income was $838 million, or $1.89 per diluted share, inclusive of $283 million pretax, or $0.47 per diluted share of COVID related costs. Net income for the first 36 weeks was $3.34 billion, or $7.51 per diluted share, compared to $2.61 billion, or $5.89 per diluted share, last year.

Costco currently operates 809 warehouses, including 559 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 29 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, three in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.

A conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (PT) today, May 27, 2021, and is available via a webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and “Play Webcast”).

Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including