ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwired - Mar 2, 2016) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COST) today announced its operating results for the second quarter (twelve weeks) and first half (24 weeks) of fiscal 2016, ended February 14, 2016.

Net sales for the quarter increased three percent, to $27.57 billion from $26.87 billion last year. Net sales for the first half increased two percent, to $54.19 billion from $53.16 billion last year.

Comparable sales for the twelve-week and twenty-four-week periods were as follows:

Comparable sales for these periods, excluding the negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange were as follows:

Net income for the quarter was $546 million, or $1.24 per diluted share, compared to $598 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, last year. Net income for the first half was $1,026 million, or $2.32 per diluted share, compared to $1,094 million, or $2.47 per diluted share, last year.

Net income for the quarter last year was positively impacted by a $57 million ($0.13 per diluted share) tax benefit in connection with a special cash dividend received by the Company 401(k) plan participants, and was negatively impacted by a $14 million ($0.03 per diluted share) tax charge relating to an ongoing income tax matter.

For the four-week reporting month of February, ended February 28, 2016, the Company reported net sales of $8.28 billion, an increase of one percent from $8.18 billion during the similar four-week period last year. For the twenty-six week period ended February 28, 2016, net sales were $58.25 billion, an increase of two percent from $57.19 billion during the similar period last year.

Comparable sales for the four-week and twenty-six-week periods ended February 28, 2016 were as follows:

Comparable sales for these periods, excluding the negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange, were as follows:

Costco currently operates 698 warehouses, including 488 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 90 in Canada, 36 in Mexico, 27 in the United Kingdom, 24 in Japan, 12 in Korea, 11 in Taiwan, eight in Australia and two in Spain. Costco also operates electronic commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea and Taiwan.

A conference call to discuss these fiscal 2016 second quarter operating results and February sales results is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. (PT) on March 3, 2016, and is available via a webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and "Play Webcast").

Certain statements contained in this document 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, capital spending, 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. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law.