Costco (NASDAQ: COST) reported a 1.3% rise in revenue for 2016 Q1 driven by higher growth in membership fees. But net income declined 3.2% and accordingly diluted EPS declined 2.7% to $1.09 from $1.12 YoY. Overall, total comparable sales fell 1%; heavily weighed down by declines in Canadian and international comparable sales.

Autozone (NYSE: AZO) saw its revenue grow 5.6% and net income rise 8.3% in Q1 of 2016. Diluted EPS rose 14% to $8.29 compared to $7.27 YoY. The revenue growth was driven by an increased inventory which grew 7.2%. In addition to sales growth from the opening of 22 new stores, domestic same store sales rose 3.5%.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) reported a revenue decrease of 4.6% while net losses increased by 29.5% YoY. Diluted losses per share were $0.55 compared to losses of $0.41 the same quarter last year. US tax preparation revenue rose 14% while international revenue fell 17.5%.

Lululemon (NYSE: LULU) recorded a 14.4% increase in revenue for 2015 Q3 driven by direct to consumer sales. However, net income decreased 12.1% and consequently diluted earnings per share declined 16.7% to $0.35 from $0.42 the same quarter last year. Comparable store sales were unchanged YoY.

Crude oil declined 11.1% into sub $40 territory this week closing at $35.58 per barrel. US commercial inventories (excluding SPR) declined 0.7% to 485.9 million barrels from 489.4 million breaking the rising trend for the first time in weeks. However, the national average retail regular gasoline price continued its decline; falling 0.3% this week to $2.053 per gallon from $2.059 per gallon last week.

Initial unemployment claims rose 13,000 while continuing claims increased 16,500 in the week ending December 5. Overall, however, both initial and continuing unemployment claims have declined to pre-Great Recession levels. The labor shows continued improvement. As highlighted by Janet Yellen before the Joint Economic Committee on December 3, nonfarm payrolls are almost 4.5 million higher than pre-recession heights.

The Producer Price Index for Final Demand (PPI-FD) rose 0.3% in November, ending a two-month decline, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The rise was driven by price increases in the services demanded by wholesalers and retailers. Additionally, retail sales went up 0.2% according to the Bureau of Census propelled by improved consumer sentiment (up 0.5% according to the University of Michigan’s Consumer Survey).

Looking Ahead

As we are still deep in earnings season, check out next week's earnings calendar.