Costco Wholesale stock holds on earnings scale

Costco Wholesale (ISIN US22160K1051) remains a large-cap retail name with fiscal 2026 third-quarter revenue of $63.21 billion and net income of $1.90 billion for the 12 weeks ended 11 May 2025. The company said membership fee income rose to $1.24 billion in the quarter, a useful marker for how much of Costco Wholesale stock still rests on renewal economics as much as on merchandise sales.

Revenue and profit base

For the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Costco Wholesale reported diluted earnings per share of $4.28, up from $4.19 a year earlier, while net sales reached $61.96 billion. That combination matters because the spread between revenue growth and profit growth shows how efficiently the warehouse club is converting traffic into earnings.

Membership income also climbed from $1.12 billion in the same quarter a year earlier to $1.24 billion, which helped support the quarter's $1.90 billion in net income. The numbers point to a business that is still leaning on renewal economics, not just basket size, for earnings stability.

Membership fees up 10.7%

The fee line increased by $120 million year over year, or 10.7%, from $1.12 billion to $1.24 billion. That is a cleaner comparison than headline revenue alone, because Costco Wholesale's business model depends on recurring membership income to underpin margins in a low-margin retail format.

Operating income for the quarter was $2.30 billion, up from $2.12 billion a year earlier. The year-over-year gain of $180 million is modest beside the $63.21 billion revenue base, but it is enough to show that Costco Wholesale continued to expand earnings faster than a simple sales rise would suggest.

Fiscal year run rate

For the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2026, Costco Wholesale reported net sales of $183.66 billion, compared with $174.46 billion in the same period a year earlier. That $9.20 billion increase gives investors a concrete run-rate snapshot before the next quarterly print and highlights how much scale the chain already has in North America and abroad.

The same 36-week period also leaves a clear trail on profitability: if the quarter is representative, the business is still producing more than $2 billion in operating income per quarter while keeping membership income above $1 billion. For a retailer with thin merchandise margins, that mix is the key figure to watch.

Warehouse retail at scale

Costco Wholesale's product mix is still anchored by food, household staples, and high-velocity general merchandise sold through warehouse clubs. That model helps explain why membership fees and traffic trends matter so much: they are the recurring engine behind a business that otherwise operates on low product margins.

For investors, the product side matters less as a catalog of items and more as a reminder that the company's scale comes from basket frequency and renewal rates. The quarter's $1.24 billion in membership income and $2.30 billion in operating income show why the model remains durable even when merchandise margins stay tight.

Stock and scale

Costco Wholesale stock can be read through its latest reported scale rather than a single-day price move: $63.21 billion in fiscal 2026 third-quarter revenue, $1.90 billion in net income, and $183.66 billion in net sales for the first 36 weeks of fiscal 2026. Those figures, all from the company's fiscal 2026 reporting period, are the numbers that define the stock's current operating backdrop.

Costco Wholesale trades on Nasdaq under the symbol COST. The business remains one of the clearest examples of how recurring membership income can support a retailer with billions of dollars in quarterly sales.