Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) didn't have the greatest first quarter on record. On a reported basis, earnings per share on a diluted basis rose a penny to $0.60. A single, sad, solitary penny. But, let's go non-GAAP, shall we? If we add back $0.05 relating to the mark-to-market effect of some life insurance contracts, we get $0.65 per share, which, according to this article, means that Costco beat earnings estimates by $0.03.

That's not bad, actually, although the market wasn't impressed. As I write this, the stock is down over 2.5%. While the top line increased 3.7% to $16.4 billion, same-store sales expanded by a smaller amount. And, as we all know, same-store sales are the big thing when it comes to gauging the relative health of a retail operation with multiple store locations (although many pundits do argue that you shouldn't go overboard in terms of focusing on comps). Costco saw its comps rise by a mere 1%. And, interestingly enough, I noticed in the press release that the effect of a stronger dollar made itself known to the company during the quarter. There's been a lot of talk lately about how the fluctuating currency markets would eventually impact businesses with foreign exposure. Considering that we're a global economy, every individual investor must keep this in mind.

So, Costco, which competes with BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), did okay for the quarter in terms of earnings, but comps are a different matter. Management said that non-food categories were weak. Not surprising, considering that foodstuffs are, in theory, the defensive business in a bad spending environment. Costco will have to address that through better merchandising. As for the stock, I agree with Elizabeth Harrow that it could be cheap. If you've got a very long-term horizon, you should be okay with this company, but traders would be advised to use a tight stop on it. I could see this one going down from here, at least in the short-term, based on the weak comps.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.