On Oct. 12, Costco (NASDAQ:COST) released full-year earnings for the period ending Sept. 3, 2006.

  • Sales and earnings exceeded analyst estimates.
  • Earnings from 2005 increased by 12.7%, from $2.04 to $2.30 per share, when normalized for one-time benefits.
  • There were very slight margin declines across the board.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Avg. Est.

FY 2006

FY 2005

Change

Sales

$59,240

$60,151

$52,952

13.6%

Net Profit

--

$1,103

$1,063

3.8%

EPS

$2.28

$2.30

$2.18

5.5%

Diluted Shares

--

480

492

(2.4%)



Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

FY 2006

FY 2005

Change*

Gross Margin

12.31%

12.47%

(0.16)

Operating Margin

2.70%

2.78%

(0.08)

Net Margin

1.83%

2.01%

(0.18)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

FY 2006*

FY 2005

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$2,833

$3,460

(18.1%)

Inventory

$4,569

$4,015

13.8%



Liabilities

FY 2006*

FY 2005

Change

Accounts Payable

$4,581

$4,214

8.7%

Long-Term Debt

$215

$711

(69.7%)

* Data from company's earnings conference call.

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights
Costco should check its bulk packaging for a missing cash flow statement.

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

  • Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)
  • BJ's Wholesale (NYSE:BJ)
  • Target (NYSE:TGT)
  • Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD)
  • J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP)

Related Foolishness:

Costco is aMotley Fool Stock Advisorselection. Wal-Mart is aMotley Fool Inside Valuepick.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so checkFool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication,Nathan Parmelee owned shares in Costco, but had no positions in any of the other companies mentioned. Fool rules are here.