Costco Wholesale Corp. COST, +0.61% reported Thursday afternoon that sales in June jumped 16.9%, continuing strong growth for the retailer despite lapping big increases amid the start of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago. Costco revealed in a release that sales in June, a period that ran until July 4, were $18.9 billion, up from $136.4 billion a year ago.
Through 44 weeks of its fiscal year, Costco said that sales overall have gained 18.1%, to $161.1 billion from $136.4 billion a year ago. The wholesale-club company also continued to show gains in ecommerce, with online sales increasing 20.8% in the month and 53.4% so far this fiscal year. Costco shares were unaffected in after-hours trading following the announcement, and are up 28.7% over the past year, as the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.86% has gained 37.5%.