Shares of Costco have increased by 32 percent, the company announced in a second-quarter report on Thursday, Forbes reports.
The membership-only warehouse club headquartered in Washington state reported a 29 percent increase in net income, raising its quantity to $598 million. The company's net income for fiscal year 2014 was $463 million.
"We're getting a lot of people coming to Costco to buy gas, and that certainly drives them into the warehouses as well," said Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti on a call with investors, Forbes also reports.
"When prices go down, we save customers more and we make more," he added.
Internationally, the company's sales decreased by two percent for the same period. Within the United States, however, they rose by four percent.
Costco has also announced that it will replace its 16-year-long partnership with American Express for credit card transactions with a new partnership with Visa. Costco customers will soon be required to use Visa cards for all transactions.
"It makes sense from Costco's perspective to have the cashback program," Mercator Advisory Group official Ken Paterson said, SF Gate reports.
Costco was founded in 1976 by its original name Price Club.
