Costco Wholesale Corporation is a popular membership-based warehouse club that’s known for offering a wide range of products at competitive prices. Costco has everything your family needs and more, from gas to rotisserie chicken to Kirkland brand toilet paper. The company is a leading player in the retail industry thanks to its robust business model and high-quality products. With its significant presence across the United States, Canada, and 12 other countries, Costco has managed to earn an enviable reputation and loyal customer base. So, how much money does Costco make in a day amidst all this success?
How Much Money Does Costco Make In A Day?
Luckily Costco is a publicly-traded company, so we can easily view its financial records and calculate its daily revenue. According to the company’s 2024 annual report, Costco’s total revenue for the 2024 fiscal year was $249.6 billion. This figure represents the total revenue earned by Costco across all of its business segments, from food and electronics to gasoline and membership fees.
If you divide the company’s annual revenue by the number of days in a year, you arrive at an average daily revenue of roughly $683.8 million. But it’s worth noting that Costco’s revenue isn’t constant throughout the year. Similar to other larger retailers like Walmart, the warehouse chain experiences seasonal fluctuations in its sales. Unsurprisingly, the highest sales usually occur during the holiday season.
Costco’s Daily Profit
It’s also important to know that Costco’s revenue isn’t the same as its profit. Like all businesses, the company incurs various expenses, such as the cost of goods sold, employee salaries, and other overhead costs. These expenses are subtracted from Costco’s revenue to arrive at its net income. According to 2024 SEC filings, Costco’s net income was $7.4 billion, which is a net profit margin of approximately 2.96%.
So, how much profit does Costco actually make in a day? In 2024, the company averaged $20.27 million in profit each day, which is a tidy sum. However, Costco’s profits are still surpassed by Walmart, which reportedly collects $40 million of pure profit daily.
Earnings of Each Warehouse
Now that you know how much revenue Costco as a whole generates, you may be wondering what each warehouse brings in. Individually, an average Costco warehouse earns about $260 million in revenue annually. That works out to roughly $712,000 in sales per day.
How Is Costco Making Its Money?
While Costco doesn’t break their sales down to a granular level, there’s a lot of information we can pick up from their 2024 SEC filing. Despite being known for their warehouse stores, 7% of sales were actually made online.
While there are 890 Costco warehouses around the world, only 719 have gas stations. Despite this, gas sales made up 12% of the company’s total revenue. Traditionally, gas is not a high-income business, with most suppliers only making a few cents for every gallon sold. For that reason, gas probably isn’t a major profit driver for Costco. Most likely, the company uses it as a loss leader to entice customers to visit and shop more often.
Speaking of customers, membership fees account for 2% of Costco’s revenue. The membership program probably doesn’t cost much to run, so most of this revenue may be profit.
Here Are More Interesting Costco Facts
Costco has a presence in 14 different countries. However, sales in the US and Canada make up 86% of Costco’s yearly revenue. California alone accounts for 27% of US sales. This makes sense considering the fact that California was just named the 4h largest economy in the world, surpassing Japan.
Costco states in their SEC filing that there are 136.8 million members throughout the world. Nearly 93% of customers in the US and Canada renew every year, demonstrating how loyal their membership base is.
Costco started in 1983 in Seattle, Washington. Although the warehouse chain has a significant international presence, over 66% of its locations are in the US.
The late billionaire Charlie Munger was a long time member of Costco’s board. He served for 26 years before his death in 2024.
Costco has over 333,000 employees and is consistently ranked as one of the best places to work. The chain is known for offering competitive wages and opportunities for advancement.
Famous celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bryan Cranston are known to shop at Costco (per Mashed.com).
Costco has both regular warehouse locations and Business Centers that cater to small businesses like restaurants. However, you don’t have to be an entrepreneur to shop there. You can get in with your Costco card and take advantage of deals on products like office supplies and bulk single-serve snacks.
Costco offers so much more than just bulk groceries. There’s usually a pharmacy, food court, and vision center at Costco locations. Plus, your membership entitles you to special discounts on automotive services, travel, insurance, certain prescriptions, and more.
Wrapping Up
Based on its 2024 SEC filings, Costco earned an average daily profit of $20.27 million, which is an impressive amount. However, it’s important to remember that this figure can vary significantly due to seasonal fluctuations, economic conditions, and other factors. So the figure we calculated should only be viewed as an estimate.
Does Costco earn more or less than you expected? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Read More:
Is Costco Gas Quality The Same as Chevron, Exxon and Shell?
Is Costco Rotisserie Chicken Healthy?
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James Hendrickson is an internet entrepreneur, blogging junky, hunter and personal finance geek. When he’s not lurking in coffee shops in Portland, Oregon, you’ll find him in the Pacific Northwest’s great outdoors. James has a masters degree in Sociology from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Bachelors degree on Sociology from Earlham College. He loves individual stocks, bonds and precious metals.
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