Costco tops sales estimates as shoppers return to

(Reuters) -Membership-only retail chain Costco Wholesale Corp beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales on Thursday, helped by strong demand for high-margin items, such as jewelry and home furnishing goods, as customers returned to its stores.

The warehouse retail chain has benefited from shoppers returning to its stores to buy everything from groceries to sporting goods with their stimulus checks as COVID-19 pandemic-driven restrictions ease.

Comparable sales, excluding the impact of fuel and currency fluctuations, jumped 15.1%, compared with estimates of a 11.46% rise, according to Refinitiv IBES.
Net income attributable to the company rose to $1.22 billion, or $2.75 per share, in the quarter ended May 9, from $838 million, or $1.89 per share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose 22% to $44.38 billion in the third quarter, from $36.45 billion a year earlier, compared with estimates of $43.16 billion.
Hats rained down on the TD Garden ice for Pastrnak, and for the first time in a long time, there was a postseason buzz that reverberated throughout the arena with fans standing, cheering and chanting in bunches.

“It was just a nice moment to look around. Enjoy it. It’s playoff hockey. That’s what it’s all about,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I’m sure we’ll feel that in New York, too, when we get there. But it was our turn to sort of take it all in here. So, that’s what I did.”

It helps when you have Pastrnak on your side, as well.
"It's a different sport with them in the building. It warms your heart and reminds you why you play the sport," Pastrnak said. "You could tell, right from the warm-ups, the fans were going to help us."
"It's a different sport with them in the building. It warms your heart and reminds you why you play the sport," Pastrnak said. "You could tell, right from the warm-ups, the fans were going to help us."
Pastrnak, whose first postseason hat trick came three years ago in Game 2 of the opening round against Toronto, scored his third Saturday after weaving through the Islanders' zone and ripping a wrist shot past Sorokin 14:10 into the third period.

The hats began flying from all levels of the arena, which got loud enough to shake over the few minutes it took to clear the ice as elated Boston fans celebrated being back inside the arena and an imminent victory by the Bruins.

Pastrnak's goal and an empty-netter by Hall in the final minute triggered several anti-New York chants and a few rounds of "We want the Cup!"

"Obviously, Pasta is a goal scorer," Cassidy said. "He's found his touch."
LONDON — Only a week ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain and his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, sent friends save-the-date cards for a wedding in July 2022, according to several British newspapers. But on Saturday, Mr. Johnson and Ms. Symonds were married in a stealth ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in London.

A spokesman for the prime minister’s office confirmed on Sunday: “The prime minister and Ms. Symonds were married yesterday afternoon in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral. The couple will celebrate their wedding with family and friends next summer.”

It was a characteristically dramatic twist for a relationship that had unfolded in a frenetic way from the very start.
Mr. Johnson, 56, moved into his official residence in Downing Street with Ms. Symonds in 2019 before his divorce from his second wife, Marina Wheeler, had been completed. Ms. Symonds gave birth to a son, Wilfred, last spring, only weeks after Mr. Johnson had survived a near-fatal bout with Covid-19.

It is the third marriage for Mr. Johnson and the first for Ms. Symonds, 33, who has recently come under scrutiny for her role in an expensive refurbishment of the prime minister’s official quarters at Downing Street, which was initially financed by a donor to the Conservative Party.

The afternoon wedding, in London’s main Roman Catholic cathedral — less than a mile from 10 Downing Street — was carried out in extreme secrecy, according to The Mail and The Sun. Even Mr. Johnson’s close aides were not told in advance of the ceremony. At about 1:30 p.m., according to The Sun, the church was abruptly cleared of visitors, and Mr. Johnson and his bride pulled up in a limousine.

In accordance with coronavirus restrictions, there were only 30 guests in the byzantine-style church — including Mr. Johnson’s father, Stanley — all of whom had been invited at short notice. Ms. Symonds wore a long white dress but no veil, according to The Sun. The couple’s year-old son was among the witnesses.

Though the wedding was not confirmed by Downing Street until Sunday, news reports on Saturday evening drew congratulations from political figures, including Arlene Foster, the first minister of Northern Ireland, who said on Twitter, “Huge congratulations to Boris Johnson & Carrie Symonds on your wedding today.”

Mr. Johnson is the first British prime minister to be married in office since Lord Liverpool married Mary Chester in 1822, his second marriage. But much about Mr. Johnson and Ms. Symonds’s relationship has seemed unorthodox by the relatively conventional standards of Downing Street.