Costco's merchandise costs rose to $69.588 billion for the quarter, up from $69.219 billion a year earlier. Also, selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses climbed to $7.067 billion from $6.939 billion.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) is set to report fourth quarter results on Thursday. Wall Street expects the retailer to post EPS of $5.08, while revenue is expected to rise 1.4% to $80.03 billion during the quarter.

Costco's Q4 earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2%, while revenues fall short. Comparable sales rise 5.4% but at a decelerated pace.