Costco says 4th-qtr profit view likely on high end

NEW YORK, May 29 (Reuters) - Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said on Thursday that analysts' average estimate for fourth-quarter earnings of $1.01 per share is probably on the high end, "if not too high," of its likely results.

He made the comments on a conference call with analysts. Earlier on the call, he said that while the warehouse club operator had "pretty strong" gross margins in its fiscal fourth quarter last year, he does not expect the same for the fourth quarter this year. (Reporting by Nicole Maestri; editing by John Wallace)