NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. are lower by 1% to $150.48 in pre-market trading on Thursday morning, after the company reported a slight decline in March 2015 sales when compared to the same month last year. Costco, a membership warehouse retailer, said March 2015 sales were $10.40 billion versus $10.43 billion posted for the similar period last year. The company said this year's total reflects one less sales day than last year resulting from the timing of Easter. "This calendar shift negatively impacted this year's net and comparable sales by an estimated one to one and a half percent,' Costco said in a statement. However, the company added that for the 31 weeks ended April 5, 2015 Costco reported net sales of $67.58 billion, a 5% rise from the $64.65 billion recorded for the same period last year. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP (COST) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, notable return on equity and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: COST's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 4.4%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share. COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP has improved earnings per share by 28.6% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP increased its bottom line by earning $4.66 versus $4.63 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($5.24 versus $4.66). The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and greatly outperformed compared to the Food & Staples Retailing industry average. The net income increased by 29.1% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $463.00 million to $598.00 million. Current return on equity exceeded its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of strength within the company. Compared to other companies in the Food & Staples Retailing industry and the overall market, COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP's return on equity exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. Powered by its strong earnings growth of 28.57% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 34.31% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. We feel that the stock's sharp appreciation over the last year has driven it to a price level which is now somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry. The other strengths this company shows, however, justify the higher price levels. You can view the full analysis from the report here: COST Ratings Report Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 25 Stocks for 2015
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