Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports April Sales Results

ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwired - May 8, 2014) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COST) today reported net sales of $8.56 billion for the month of April, the four weeks ended May 4, 2014, an increase of seven percent from $7.98 billion during the similar four-week period last year. This year's four-week period included 27 days of sales compared to 28 last year, reflecting the timing of Easter. This calendar shift negatively impacted this year's net and comparable sales by an estimated one and one-half to two percent.

For the thirty-five weeks ended March 4, 2014, the Company reported net sales of $73.21 billion, an increase of six percent from $69.00 billion during the similar period last year.

Comparable sales for the four and thirty-five week periods were as follows:

		4 Weeks		35 Weeks
U.S.		5%		4%
International		2%		1%
Total Company		5%		3%

Inflation in gasoline prices had a positive impact on comparable sales for the four-week period, but a negative impact for the thirty-five week period; foreign currencies had a negative impact for both periods. Excluding these effects, comparable sales were as follows:

	4 Weeks		35 Weeks
U.S.	5%		5%
International	7%		7%
Total Company	5%		5%

Additional discussion of these sales results is available in a pre-recorded telephone message. You can access the recording by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (conference ID 96617879). This message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, May 9, 2014.

The Company plans to release its operating results for the third quarter (12 weeks) of fiscal 2014 ending May 11, 2014, on May 29, 2014. A conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. (PT) that day and will be available via webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and "webcasts").

Costco currently operates 652 warehouses, including 463 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 87 in Canada, 33 in Mexico, 25 in the United Kingdom, 19 in Japan, 10 in Taiwan, 10 in Korea and five in Australia. Costco also operates electronic commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Certain statements contained in this document and the pre-recorded telephone message 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. 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 exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, breaches of security or privacy of member or business information, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, amounts expected to be spent on expansion plans, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (including health care costs), energy, and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.