Highlighted below are these companies: Costco (COST), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Chico's FAS (CHS), JC Penney (JCP) and Nordstrom (JWN).

Early this morning, Costco (COST) reported net sales of $5.10 billion for the 4 weeks ended February 1, 2009. This was roughly flat with the same 4-week period last year. Total company comp-store sales decreased 2% with its U.S. stores flat and its international stores down 9%. The company noted that its comps were negatively affected by gasoline deflation. Excluding gasoline and foreign exchange, Costco had a comp-store increase of 5%.

The real news, however, was Costco's updated earnings outlook for its fiscal second quarter ending Feb 15. The company expects its second quarter earnings per share to be "substantially below" consensus estimates. The Zacks consensus was $0.71 for the second quarter prior to Costco's announcement.

Costco is one of the best-run retailers on the planet, and its stores could not escape the grasp of the difficult macro environment. Costco indicated that it used aggressive discounts to drive sales and increase market share. Management also declined to provide earnings guidance for the rest of the year, citing uncertainties in the economy and consumer behavior.

Clearly, this is negative for Costco, and its shares are down over 8% as I write this. But Costco has the operations, management team, and market position to cut costs and take market share during this downturn. That will enable the company ramp up profit margins and earnings growth when economic conditions finally begin to improve.

While it is too soon to recommend buying Costco here, I expect its stock outperform more discretionary names such as specialty retailers Abercrombie (ANF) and Chico's (CHS) or department stores JC Penney (JCP) and Nordstrom (JWN).