Seattle’s Costco forecasts sustained demand for prime profit-margin gadgets

Costco Wholesale Corp., the Seattle, Washington-based retailer, had beaten Wall Street’s estimates for quarterly sales earlier this week, while the large retail chain was also quoted as saying it expected continued spike in demand for high-margin items , including jewelry and home decorations, as the pandemic restriction has been relaxed.

In fact, Costco’s most recent blockbuster quarterly earnings report had largely reflected the profits of several U.S. retailers that had benefited from a relaxation of pandemic restrictions alongside massive government incentives as more Americans accelerated vaccination campaigns across more than half of the entire U.S. -Population receives at least one vaccination against the pandemic pathogen.

Costco sees continued demand in the coming months

That being said, the Seattle-based retailer had said the company had seen a gradual return of customers to its food courts, while the big box retailer alongside the travel division had forecast continued growth in its non-food stores Customers hotel rooms and cruise tickets at discounted prices.

Nonetheless, the retailer had addressed the persistent delivery delays, chip shortages and higher freight costs, largely due to the tax ramifications of the pandemic and widespread labor shortages. According to Costco’s quarterly report for the third quarter of 2021, which ended May 3, retailer sales rose 15.1 percent year-over-year, beating an analyst estimate of 11.46 percent, while the company’s net income rose $ 1.22 billion, or $ 2.75 per share, compared to net income of $ 838 million, or $ 1.89 per share, year-over-year.

Meanwhile, Richard Galanti, Costco’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call with reporters referring to a number of inflationary pressures:There have been and are a variety of inflationary pressures that we and others are seeing.

Inflation factors abound. ” Costco’s total revenue rose 21.5 percent to $ 45.28 billion at the same time, compared to an estimate of $ 43.64 billion on Friday to 2.4 percent as investors worry about growing inflationary pressures and delivery delays, that could curb the retail chain’s sales of high-margin items remained uncertain, analysts suggested.