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Costco Wholesale Corporation

Rank #128Capital Return

COST · Nasdaq · Consumer Defensive

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) — Rank #128 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.41) · ROE 24.2% · Piotroski F-Score 6 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000909832 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden.

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It offers merchandise, including sundries, dry groceries, candies, coolers, freezers, deli, liquor, and tobacco; non-food merchandise comprising appliances, small electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, lawn and garden, sporting goods, tires, toys and seasonal, automotive, stamps, tickets, apparel, furniture, domestics, housewares, special order kiosks, and jewelry; and fresh food, such as meat, produce, service deli, and bakery products. The company is also involved in warehouse ancillary operations, which include gasoline, pharmacies, optical, food courts, hearing-aid centers, and tire installation centers. In addition, it engages in e-commerce, business centers, travel, and other businesses. The company was formerly known as Costco Companies, Inc. and changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999.

Costco Wholesale Corporation was founded in 1976 and is based in Issaquah, Washington.

Industry
Discount Stores
Sector
Consumer Defensive
State
WA
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
August 30
Website
costco.com

Price History

COST+111.0% · +16.1% CAGRSPY+80.3% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$401.79B

P/E (annual)

49.8

P/S (annual)

1.5

P/B

12.0

P/OCF (annual)

30.1

Shareholder Yield

0.5%

Employees

341,000

Industry

Discount Stores

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

4 green1 yellow
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 3-quarter streak
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.41
Return on equity
24.2%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.81
Current ratio
1.07×
Net cash
$14.33B

Cash Flow

2/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
WARN
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.3%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
8.2%
Piotroski F-Score
6 / 9
Share dilution
0.0%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 3/5 Terry Smith thresholds

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

20.6%

fairly valued

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Dilution drag: 0.0% — per-share value needs a total required return of 20.6% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 8.7%

priced above its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

15.6%

r = 10% (base)

20.6%

r = 12%

25.0%

Net debt / market cap: -3.6%

Base FCF: $7.8B3Y mean FCF: $7.1B

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

50.2xExpensive
25.9xmed 39.9x54.9x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

1.5xExpensive
0.5xmed 1.0x1.6x

P / B

Price / book value per share

14.0xExpensive
5.5xmed 10.2x17.1x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

11.5xExpensive
4.1xmed 7.8x12.6x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

51.9xFair
16.4xmed 42.6x103.3x

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.41

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

3rd of 6 SIC 53 peers

Return on equity

24.2%

Gross margin

12.8%

6th of 6 SIC 53 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

8.2%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

6.6%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

10.5%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

11.5%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

30.8%

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.81

6th of 6 SIC 53 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.07×

6th of 6 SIC 53 peers

Quick ratio

0.56×

Net cash

$14.33B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Recession resistance

Revenue through recessions

Worst single-year YoY revenue decline, 18 years of history

Moderate
2008-2009 (GFC)
-1.5%Mild decline
2020 (COVID)
9.2%Grew through it
Worst year on record(any fiscal year, not recession-limited)
-1.5%Mild decline

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$7.84B

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

-0.03

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

WARN

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.3%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.5 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
27.0%5/5 Strong
FCF coverage
3.59×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
0 yr0/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.81 · IC 67.42×4/5 Strong

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

6 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Capital Return
View full financial statements →