Dive Brief:

• Warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. Wednesday reported Q1 profits that beat expectations and bested its competition.

• Q1 same-store sales rose 7%, the company said. Overall sales rose 7.4% to $26.9 billion, meeting expectations. Revenue from membership fees rose 6% to $582 million.

• By contrast, Wal-Mart has recently reported a same-store sales increase of .5% and Target a 1.2% same-store sales increase. 

Dive Insight:

Costco, which unlike most of its competition stayed closed on Thanksgiving Day and generally pays its workers some of the best wages and benefits in American retail, is outpacing its competition right now. The country’s largest warehouse retailer is beating expectations, and Sterne Agee analyst Charles From told Bloomberg that when it comes to its stock, “There is no reason to get off this train.”