Business
Costco gas demand hits record highs as consumers seek low prices at pump
‘Varney & Co.’ host Stuart Varney breaks down how rising gas prices and Middle East tensions are hurting President Donald Trump’s economic approval ratings.
Costco’s gas stations saw a surge in demand in the most recent quarter as consumers sought out its low-priced gasoline, which helped the company top the market expectations for its third-quarter sales.
Costco CEO Ron Vachris noted the “backdrop of ongoing macro uncertainty” has consumers searching out affordable options given the pressure on household budgets, which helped attract members to its gas stations.
“Nowhere has this been more apparent in the third quarter than our gas business. As events in the Middle East have had a significant impact on product supply and gas prices, our focus, as always, is to be there for our members by staying in stock and offering the best value,” Vachris said.
“The result was record-breaking volumes, all three four-week fiscal periods of the quarter set successive all-time company volume sales records, with the final five weeks for the quarter becoming our top five volume weeks ever,” he said.
HIGH ENERGY PRICES RISK KEEPING INFLATION ABOVE 2% TARGET, CONCERNING FED POLICYMAKERS

Costco cited “unprecedented demand” for its low-cost gas in the latest quarter. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Vachris commended the Costco team’s work managing the deliveries necessary to meet demand, “which requires multiple daily gas deliveries to many locations.”
Energy markets were upended by the Iran war, which sent gas prices surging above $4 a gallon around the country as global oil supplies were constrained by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which sent crude prices above $100 a barrel.
AMERICANS LEAN ON CREDIT CARDS AND BUY NOW, PAY LATER AS GAS PRICES EAT BIGGER SHARE OF INCOME
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COST | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP. | 952.55 | -42.65 | -4.29% |
The latest AAA data shows the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.39 on Friday, up about 38% from the average of $3.17 a gallon a year ago.
Vachris noted that the low-cost gasoline offered at Costco stations helped attract new members and customers into stores, driving more sales momentum for the wholesale club in the future.
GAS PRICE SURGE HITTING LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS HARDEST, FED STUDY FINDS

Costco said that low gas prices helped drive new memberships as sales volumes rose. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)
“The high consumer price sensitivity, which fueled these record volumes, also drove many members to use our gas stations for the very first time in the third quarter. We believe this will drive even greater loyalty with these members in the future as members who use our gas stations typically spend more with us in the warehouse,” he said.
Costco CFO Gary Millerchip added that Costco’s volumes of gas sales allowed the company to widen its price gap with higher-cost stations, adding that the company knows “that’s something that’s very high on our members’ minds.”
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Reuters contributed to this report.
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Terry Chrisomalis is a private investor in the Biotech sector with years of experience utilizing his Applied Science background to generate long term value from Healthcare. He is the author of the investing group Biotech Analysis Central which contains a library of 600+ Biotech investing articles, a model portfolio of 10+ small and mid-cap stocks with deep analysis for each, live chat, and a range of analysis and news reports to help Healthcare investors make informed decisions.
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Business
India, Canada launch trade & investment forum
The two sides also agreed to enhance connectivity, including people to people ties, business mobility and direct commercial linkages, as essential enablers of expanded trade and investment.
Goyal held a series of meetings with business leaders, besides a bilateral meeting with Canada’s international trade minister Maninder Sidhu, during the May 25-28 visit.
“The Ministers launched the Canada-India Trade and Investment Forum as a key platform that brings together Canadian and Indian business leaders and fosters new commercial partnerships and increased business engagement,” commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
India and Canada reiterated their commitment to advancing an ambitious and mutually beneficial comprehensive economic partnership agreement and affirmed their shared objective of concluding negotiations by the end of this year.
Sidhu confirmed that Canada will send a Team Canada Trade Mission to India later this year, according to the statement.
“Canada and India agreed to continue encouraging long term, high quality investment in priority sectors and to support deeper collaboration between businesses, innovators, and institutional partners in both countries,” it said.US trade
Goyal engaged with more than 50 prominent business and industry leaders at a closed-door roundtable discussion in New York City. In a post on X, he said the discussions focused on expanding partnerships across trade, investment, innovation and supply chains to drive shared prosperity between the two nations. “Goyal held a series of high-level business and investment engagements in New York on 28 May 2026 during his transit through the city,” the ministry said. His visit to the US comes ahead of an American team’s visit to India from June 1-4 to finalise details of the interim trade pact and take forward negotiations under the broader bilateral trade agreement on various areas such as market access, non-tariff measures and customs facilitation.
“Discussed ways to further deepen India-US trade, investment, innovation, and supply-chain partnerships for shared prosperity,” Goyal said in a post on X.
The minister also held bilateral talks with leading industry heads. During his meeting with Morgan Stanley chairman and CEO Ted Pick, the discussions focused on strengthening long-term investments and institutional partnerships in India, while exploring how the investment bank and financial services firm can leverage the immense opportunities emerging across sectors in India.
With Warburg Pincus chairman Chip Kaye, Goyal exchanged views on the evolving global investment landscape and India’s emergence as a key driver of growth and innovation, while with Amneal Pharmaceuticals co-founder and co-CEO Chintu Patel, he discussed investment opportunities in India’s pharmaceutical sector and avenues for deeper collaboration to boost innovation in India.
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Nextpower Inc. (NXT) M&A Call Transcript
Operator
Good afternoon, and welcome to Nextpower’s investor conference call to discuss today’s announcement. That Nextpower has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Prevalon Energy. Today’s call is being webcast live, and a replay will be available on the Investor Relations section of Nextpower’s website.
The press release and accompanying investor presentation are also available on the Investor Relations website. I will now turn the call over to Ms. Sarah Lee, Head of Investor Relations.
Sarah Lee
Head of Investor Relations
Thank you. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that today’s remarks will include forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the proposed acquisition of Prevalon Energy, the expected timing and completion of the transaction, the anticipated benefits of the acquisition, expected strategic, operational and financial impacts integration plans, market opportunities, customer demand, product capabilities and other expectations regarding future performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied.
These risks include, among others, the possibility that the transaction may not close on the expected time line or at all, the failure to obtain required approvals or satisfy closing conditions, integrated risks, market and customer demand, supply chain and execution risks and other risks described in Nextpower’s filings with the SEC.
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