Discount Retailers Report Mixed September Results

Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%.

Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:

Sales of food and medicine at Wal-Mart helped offset the impact of hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike, which resulted in 341 store closings and a 0.4% decrease in total sales. Analysts had estimated a 2.5% rise, which Wal-Mart missed by just a hair.

However, sales at Wal-Mart’s warehouse division Sam’s Club rose 4.6%, exceeding estimates of a 2.8% increase, Reuters reports.

Costco reported a 7% rise in sales at stores open at least a year - 8% in the US and 2% internationally (via MarketWatch). Excluding gasoline price inflation, US same-store sales would have been up slightly less (6%).

Costco also reported its Q4 earnings at $397.8 million ($0.90 cents a share) - a 6.8% increase over the same period last year. Price increases in food and gasoline and a litigation settlement resulted in a charge of $0.08 per share.

Net sales rose to $22.63 billion (12.6%) but total revenue, which includes membership fees, hit $23.1 billion.

Target’s same-store September sales fell 3%, more than the 1.2% expected by analysts, writes MarketWatch. Total sales for the five weeks ended Oct. 6 rose 2.5% to $5.3 billion.