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"Inflationary factors abound: higher labor costs, higher freight costs, higher transportation demand, along with container shortages and port delays, increased demand in certain product categories, various shortages of everything from computer chips to oils and chemicals, higher commodities prices," Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti told analysts after markets closed Thursday. "It's a lot of fun right now."
Step back: Costco managed to beat Wall Street's earnings expectations for its most recent quarter, sending shares up 0.8% in premarket trading. But the company made clear that the process of getting products on shelves to meet a jump in consumer demand remains a nightmare.
Furniture delays have doubled wait times for some products, forcing the company to stock up early. The circumstances are similar for toys, as well as electronics like computers, tablets and video games.
"We're ordering as much as we can and getting it in earlier," Galanti said.
Even so, supply chains are so badly tangled that the company said it has chartered three ocean vessels for the next year to transport containers between Asia and the United States and Canada.
Remember: The complex network of ports, container vessels and trucks that moves goods around the world is still badly clogged after falling out of sync last year, and the cost of shipping is skyrocketing....
Read Full Story: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/24/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html
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