(NEXSTAR) – Costco’s new CFO and executive vice president, Gary Millerchip, held his first Costco earnings call Thursday afternoon and delivered a blunt message to investors and analysts.
“To dispel some recent media speculation, we also want to confirm that our $1.50 hot dog price is safe,” Miller-Chip said shortly after welcoming attendees to the company’s trade show. Third quarter earnings report.
Costco’s hot dog and soda combo costs $1.50 and has remained the same since it was added to the menu in the mid-1980s, but recent comments from Costco’s former CFO Richard Galanti have some customers worried about the item’s future.
Like Millerchip, Galanti has frequently discussed the price of the combo set during Costco’s quarterly earnings calls, saying the $1.50 price would remain “permanently” in 2022. However, earlier this year Galanti seemed to hint that Millerchip might raise the price, saying: Bloomberg He said the price of the $1.50 combo plan may be “probably safe for a while” after he leaves office.
According to former Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, the story behind Costco’s popular hot dog and its ever-changing price can be traced back to Costco co-founder James Sinegal.
“I [Sinegal] “At one point, I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell these hot dogs for $1.50. We’re done,'” Jelinek recalled in a 2018 interview. 425 Business. “And he said, ‘If you give me a hot dog, I’ll kill you. Figure it out for yourself.’
Jelinek said the company soon began making its own hot dogs (rather than sourcing them elsewhere) to keep costs down.
Galanti also said in previous earnings calls that revenue from Costco’s other business segments is helping it cut costs in the food court. If that’s true, the $1.50 hot dog sale could stick around for a while. In its latest earnings report, Costco reported that third-quarter 2023 sales beat expectations, increasing 9.1%.
“We’re seeing wins on a number of fronts,” Costco CEO Ron Bakris said Thursday.
