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Fresh data from Costco Wholesale (COST) illustrates a key reason it's thought of as a good retail employer: Its wages are substantially above the national industry average.
On the company's Thursday earnings conference call, CEO Ron Vachris said Costco's average wage has reached "just north" of $30 per hour after a round of wage increases brought its minimum wage to $19.50 per hour and added 50 cents per hour to each pay tier.
Costco has long advocated the nation that higher wages lead to more productive employees, which leads to higher sales. CFO Gary Millerchip on Thursday said wages are a "critical part of delivering a better experience for our members."
The warehouse retailer is roughly $5.50 above the retail average of $24.57 per hour as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for August. Retail broadly saw the second lowest average wage in the BLS data at $24.02. That put it above only hospitality at $22.18, with an average wage over $51 for workers in the utilities sector.
Wages are one reason Costco has low employee turnover, along with its tendency to promote from within, which Vachris also highlighted in Thursday's call. He said the company promoted 95 new warehouse managers in fiscal 2024, and 85% of those promotions were people who started as an hourly worker at Costco.
The overall average private nonfarm wage in August was just under $34, according to the BLS data.
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Instablog9ja
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Crossdresser James Brown has broke his silence and addresses the burning question on the lips of Nigerians.
He said as the Duchess of London he see it all because his god mother has given him the sights to see it all.
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Investopedia
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After Costco Wholesale (COST) reported better-than-expected profits but missed sales estimates, executives updated investors about the retailer's first membership fee hike in seven years, its international growth plans, and more in the company's earnings call Thursday.
There are "definitely some signs" that stretched consumers are being careful about their spending, CFO Gary Millerchip said, though he added Costco has been encouraged by a rise in spending on some discretionary items as inflation eases. For example, jewelry, toys, gift cards, and home furnishings were a few product categories that saw sales rise by double digits year-over-year.
However, Millerchip said higher-cost items like electronics and appliances have "become more promotional over time," suggesting consumers continue to look for value when considering big-ticket purchases.
While Costco's digital sales growth slowed compared to the previous quarter, the retailer still reported nearly 19% higher e-commerce sales in the fiscal fourth quarter than the same time last year. CEO Ron Vachris said members have reacted positively to some of Costco's new digital features like improved app search and the ability to check a warehouse's inventory from the app, adding the Costco app has reached roughly 39 million downloads.
Vachris also said Costco's new membership card scanners, installed in much of Europe and now at 350 U.S. locations, help speed up the checkout process if a card is checked at the door instead, and gives Costco more accurate real-time traffic numbers.
Costco's first membership fee hike in seven years took effect Sept.1, as the quarter ended. Executives said on Thursday's call that they haven't seen any meaningful changes to renewal trends in the first month of the new price tiers, and that the financial impacts of the change could come towards the back half of fiscal 2025 and into fiscal 2026.
The retailer reported 76 million members at the end of the quarter, above the 75 million members analysts had projected, and up from 71 million the same time last year. Millerchip said Costco's U.S. and Canada membership renewal rate was 92.9% at the end of the quarter, and 90.5% globally, noting over half of Costco's new members in fiscal 2024 were also under the age of 40.
Vachris said Costco opened 30 new locations in fiscal 2024, including its 600th location in the U.S. in Wisconsin and its first in Maine, giving Costco a presence in 47 states. It plans to open 29 locations in fiscal 2025, 12 of which are expected to come outside the U.S. as Costco expands its international efforts, where the retailer continues to see "significant opportunities," Vachris said.
Costco shares were 2.2% lower at $882.10 in intraday trading Friday, a day after the call. They've gained over one-third of their value since the start of the year.
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Investopedia
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After struggling this year because of limited snow and a falloff in visitors, ski resort operator Vail Resorts (MTN) announced a "transformation plan" that includes layoffs. Shares slumped as the company also reported a bigger loss for the fourth quarter.
Vail Resorts explained that it was launching a two-year plan that it said would "transform the company for future growth and global expansion." As part of that effort, Vail Resorts will slash 14% of its corporate workforce and less than 1% of its operational positions. The total layoffs will comprise less than 2% of its employees.
The company added that the steps are "designed to improve organizational effectiveness and scale for operating leverage as the company grows." Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kirsten Lynch added that Vail Resorts believes "this is a natural progression and next step for our company, that builds upon our success and paves the way for the next phase of growth."
The news came as Vail Resorts reported a fourth-quarter loss of $4.67 per share, 39% bigger than a year ago and wider than the per-share loss of $4.20 expected by analysts polled by Visible Alpha.
The company noted that the weak results were primarily caused by underperformance in its Australian winter business, as snowfall at the resorts in that country declined 28% from the previous year.
Vail Resorts shares fell 4% Friday morning and are down about 15% year-to-date.
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Instablog9ja
3 hrs
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Surprise as actor Timini Egbuson, despite his wealth, takes to Snapchat with a ‘subtle’ plea for someone to buy him the new iPhone 16.
He said so nobody will buy him iPhone 16? That’s cr@zy.
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Investopedia
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Cassava Sciences (SAVA) shares dropped more than 11% after the company agreed to a $40 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over charges that it manipulated clinical trial data related to its Alzheimer’s disease drug.
The company, along with two former executives, made “misleading statements” in September 2020 about the results of a Phase 2 trial of Cassava’s drug simufilam, the SEC said Thursday.
The medical professor who co-developed the drug manipulated the results so that it appeared the drug had shown dramatic success treading Alzheimer's, the SEC said. The settlement was made without Cassava confirming or denying the SEC's findings.
The SEC found that Cassava misled investors by claiming the trial was conducted in blind conditions and by not revealing their co-developer’s role. The company also falsely claimed that simufilam improved patients’ cognition by only disclosing a portion of the data, the SEC said.
In addition to the $40 million settlement from Cassava, then-CEO Remi Barbier agreed to pay $175,000. (A former senior vice president was also named in the settlement.) Richard Barry took the reins as CEO of Cassava earlier this month after being named the company’s executive chairman in July.
Despite Friday's slide, shares of Cassava are still up some 25% this year.
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