Costco April sales jump 13 percent, highlighting value retail pressure on Target

Costco’s April sales surge is another reminder that value retail is not just surviving, it is still pulling shoppers in. The warehouse chain posted $23.92 billion in net sales for the four weeks ended May 3, up 13.0 percent from $21.18 billion a year earlier, a result that gives Target store teams a clear benchmark as they fight for budget-conscious trips.

Costco said the month included one more shopping day than last year because Easter shifted on the calendar, lifting total and comparable sales by about 1.5 percent to 2.0 percent. Even after backing out gasoline prices and foreign exchange, comparable sales still rose 7.8 percent in April. For the first 35 weeks of fiscal 2026, Costco said net sales reached $197.18 billion, up 9.5 percent from $180.05 billion a year earlier.

The bigger lesson for Target is not just that Costco is cheaper on some items. It is that Costco has built a reason to shop that goes beyond price tags. Its membership model keeps trips sticky, and the company said in its latest annual report that membership fee revenue rose to $4.8 billion in fiscal 2024, with nearly 137 million cardholders and a 90 percent renewal rate. Costco also raised annual membership fees in September 2024, adding $5 to Gold Star and Business memberships and $10 to Executive memberships, yet customers stayed loyal.

That matters on Target’s sales floor. When guests are stretched, they compare more than one shelf tag. They compare whether a trip feels worth it, whether the store makes it easy to finish several errands at once, and whether the price they see matches the trust Target wants to project. That puts added pressure on merchandising teams to keep value items visible, on store leaders to maintain sharp price perception, and on frontline team members to explain promotions, pickup orders and where the best deal actually is.

The backdrop inside Target is already tense. Brian Cornell has warned that tariffs could create “massive” costs and said price increases would be a last resort. Target’s first-quarter fiscal 2026 results, reported in May 2025, showed net sales down 2.8 percent to $23.8 billion and comparable sales down 3.8 percent. With Target Investor Relations listing the next quarterly earnings call for Wednesday, May 20, 2026, the company enters that update under the same pressure Costco’s numbers highlight every day on the floor: prove the trip is worth it, or risk losing it.