Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

NASDAQ: COST · USD

$983

-9.62 (-1.0%)· Recorded snapshot

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StockMarketAgent Research · Analyzed 2026-09-21

Our latest published analysis: COST rated Sell

Costco Wholesale Corporation's published Sell conclusion compares the analysis-date price with fair value and potential value. Read the full report for assumptions, evidence, and material risks.

Fair value

$439 / share

Potential value

$571 / share

Upside to FV

-51.0%

from $983

Moat

9/10

Wide

Read full analysis →View archive · 24mo

9-phase methodology · same model in each published edition

Market cap	$397.1B
Revenue (ttm)	303.2B
Net income (ttm)	9.2B
EPS (ttm)	$20.8
Shares out	443.1M
P/E (trailing)	47.3x
P/E (forward)	40.0x
Dividend	$5.88 (0.60%)
Volume	1,072,739
Beta	0.87

Market data

Price

Recent price action with selectable time range.

Financial snapshot

Revenue (ttm): 303.2B
Net income (ttm): 9.2B
EPS (ttm): $20.8
P/E (trailing): 47.3x
P/E (forward): 40.0x
Market cap: $397.1B

Item	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	Trend
Period	2022-08-28	2023-09-03	2024-09-01	2025-08-31	2026-08-31	Trend
Revenue	$226.95B	$242.29B	$254.45B	$275.24B	—	+6.6%
Gross profit	$27.57B	$29.70B	$32.10B	$35.35B	—	+8.6%
Operating income	$7.79B	$8.11B	$9.29B	$10.38B	—	+10.0%
Net income	$5.84B	$6.29B	$7.37B	$8.10B	—	+11.5%
EPS (diluted)	$13.14	$14.16	$16.56	$18.21	$14.36	+2.2%
EBITDA	$9.90B	$10.72B	$12.15B	$13.40B	—	+10.6%
R&D	—	—	—	—	—	—
SG&A	$19.78B	$21.59B	$22.81B	$24.97B	—	+8.1%

Ticker	Name	Market cap	P/E	P/S	ROIC	5Y rev CAGR	1Y total return	Rating
AAPL	Apple Inc.	5T	39.4x	10.8x	101.6%	+6.1%	+28.5%	Verkaufen
ABNB	Airbnb, Inc.	97.8B	37.5x	7.4x	16.8%	+24.4%	+28.5%	Verkaufen
ADBE	Adobe Inc.	97.1B	13.9x	3.7x	57.2%	+11.5%	-30.7%	Starker Kauf
ADM	Archer-Daniels-Midland Company	37.3B	21.2x	0.5x	5.0%	+1.8%	+28.5%	Reduzieren
BF.B	Brown-Forman Corporation Class B	12.7B	17.9x	3.3x	14.3%	+1.6%	+0.4%	Kaufen
CAG	Conagra Brands, Inc.	6.6B	—	0.6x	9.2%	+0.2%	-18.9%	Starker Kauf

Base and Bull scenarios

Base60%

Price target

$439.14

-51.0% from spot

Under the base outcome, representing 60.0% probability, the stock converges toward $439.14, generating an implied return of -51.0% from $895.31. This path assumes steady mid-single-digit revenue growth and gradual operating margin normalization as membership fee gains offset freight inflation. Disconfirmation would occur if North American renewal rates drop below historical standards or if warehouse traffic turns negative over two consecutive quarters.

Subscription renewal rates sustain above ninety percent across North American warehouses.
Operating margins normalize gradually toward terminal levels as automated depot logistics scale.
Domestic comparable store sales growth compounds at mid-single-digit rates.

Bull20%

Price target

$571.07

-36.2% from spot

In the bull outcome, assigned a 20.0% probability, the shares reach Potential value at $571.07, offering an implied return of -36.2% relative to $895.31. This scenario requires international warehouse rollouts to accelerate with operating margins exceeding domestic units, rapid executive tier penetration in Asian markets, and significant freight productivity from automated depots. This path would be disconfirmed if international opening schedules stall or if gross margins continue to face compression from staple price reductions.

International warehouse openings accelerate across Asia and Europe delivering accretive segment operating margins.
Executive tier membership adoption in China and overseas territories exceeds initial corporate projections.
Depot automation and supply chain efficiencies relieve warehouse congestion and unlock operating cash flow.

Sensitivity: Ke × terminal growth

The highlighted cell is Fair value when every assumption sits at its base level ($439.14). Each row and column shows what Fair value becomes when one assumption moves.

Ke ↓ / g →	2.7%	3.2%	3.7%	4.2%	4.7%
6.5%	$523	$557	$603	$670	$773
7.5%	$457	$476	$501	$533	$576
8.5%	$412	$424	$439	$457	$480
9.5%	$380	$388	$398	$409	$423
10.5%	$355	$361	$368	$375	$384

Scorecard

Published factor rows and weighted composite

Calendar

Next earnings

Upcoming earnings date and setup when available.

Upcoming

DateLoading

Window—

EPS estimate—

Revenue estimate—

Sector percentile context

Refreshed 2026-10-28 19:55 UTC

Forward P/E40

P25 n/aP50 n/aP75 n/a

Trailing P/E45

P25 n/aP50 n/aP75 n/a

ROE28.4

P25 n/aP50 n/aP75 n/a

ROIC37.3

P25 n/aP50 n/aP75 n/a

Benchmarks · 1M

All COST indicators

Market & fundamental data

Available fields

298

Groups with data

Currency

USD

Showing 298 of 298 available metrics for this ticker.

Profile and market data

Ticker identity, listing, currency, market cap, and source dates.

Metric	Value
Amount currency	USD
CIK code	0000909832
Company name	Costco Wholesale Corporation
Country	United States
Country code	US
CUSIP number	22160K105
Earnings date	2026-12-10
Earnings time	amc
Employees	355,000
Employees change	14,000
Employees growth	4.11%
Enterprise value	$424.3B
Exchange	NASDAQ
Financial currency	USD
Financial report date	2026-08-30
First seen	2026-05-09
Fiscal year end	August
Founded	1976
In index	SP500, NASDAQ100
Industry	Discount Stores
IPO date	1993-09-22
Is primary listing	Yes
Is SPAC	No
ISIN number	US22160K1051
Last 10-K release date	2026-10-07
Last earnings date	2026-09-24
Last refreshed	2026-10-28
Last stock split date	2000-01-14
Last stock split type	Forward
Market cap	$435.4B
Market cap category	Mega-Cap
Next earnings date	2026-12-10
Options	Yes
Price	$982.54
Price currency	USD
Sector	Consumer Staples
SIC code	5331
Stock price date	2026-10-28
Symbol	COST
U.S. state	Washington
Website	https://www.costco.com

Valuation

Multiples, yields, enterprise-value ratios, and valuation checks.

Metric	Value
Adjusted P/E ratio	47.67x
Average P/E ratio (10Y)	39.63x
Average P/E ratio (3Y)	51.19x
Average P/E ratio (5Y)	46.6x
Earnings yield	2.11%
EV/Earnings	46.05x
EV/EBIT	36.91x
EV/EBITDA	29.95x
EV/FCF	45.28x
EV/Sales	1.4x
FCF / EV yield	2.21%
FCF yield	2.15%
Forward EV/Sales	1.29x
Forward P/E	43.05x
Forward P/S	1.32x
Graham number	194.23721
Graham upside	-80.26%
Industry forward P/E	36.2x
Industry P/E	38.45x
Lynch fair value	$269.93
Lynch upside	-72.56%
P/(FCF - SBC) ratio	51.54x
P/(OCF - SBC) ratio	29.27x
P/B ratio	12.28x
P/E ratio	47.33x
P/FCF ratio	46.47x
P/OCF ratio	27.56x
P/S ratio	1.44x
PEG ratio	3.96x
Price / tangible book value	12.51x
Price/EBITDA ratio	30.73x
Sector forward P/E	21.3x
Sector P/E	28.26x

Profitability

Margins, returns on capital, cash conversion, and quality metrics.

Metric	Value
EBIT margin	3.8%
EBITDA margin	4.68%
Effective tax rate	24.69%
FCF margin	3.09%
Gross margin	12.77%
Operating margin	3.8%
Pretax margin	4.04%
Profit margin	3.04%
Profit per employee	$25,989
Profitable quarters	111
Profitable years	32
Revenue per employee	$853,955
ROA	8.66%
ROA (5Y)	8.37%
ROCE	25.53%
ROE	28.4%
ROE (5Y)	29.49%
ROIC	37.34%
ROIC (5Y)	32.92%
SBC / revenue	0.3%
Tax / revenue	1%

Growth

Revenue, earnings, cash-flow, and forward growth indicators.

Metric	Value
EPS growth	14%
EPS growth (Q)	14.99%
EPS growth (QoQ)	36.92%
EPS growth 10Y	14.56%
EPS growth 3Y	13.6%
EPS growth 5Y	13%
EPS growth quarters	13
EPS growth years	10
FCF growth	19.71%
FCF growth (Q)	30.3%
FCF growth (QoQ)	21.66%
FCF growth 3Y	11.63%
FCF growth 5Y	11.81%
Gross profit growth	9.48%
Gross profit growth (Q)	8.09%
Gross profit growth 3Y	8.75%
Gross profit growth 5Y	8.92%
Net income growth	13.92%
Net income growth (Q)	14.87%
Net income growth (QoQ)	36.77%
Net income growth 3Y	13.61%
Net income growth 5Y	13%
Net income growth quarters	13
Net income growth years	10
OCF growth	18.61%
OCF growth (Q)	21.13%
OCF growth (QoQ)	35.81%
OCF growth 10Y	16.99%
OCF growth 3Y	12.64%
OCF growth 5Y	12.04%
Operating income growth	10.86%
Operating income growth (Q)	8.56%
Operating income growth 3Y	10.61%
Operating income growth 5Y	11.13%
Revenue growth	10.14%
Revenue growth (Q)	11.1%
Revenue growth (QoQ)	35.73%
Revenue growth 10Y	9.83%
Revenue growth 3Y	7.76%
Revenue growth 5Y	9.12%
Revenue growth quarters	68
Revenue growth years	17

Financial statements

Income-statement and cash-flow amounts, totals and per share.

Metric	Value
Capital expenditures	$-6.4B
Depreciation and amortization	$2.7B
EBIT	$11.5B
EBITDA	$14.2B
EPS	$20.76
FCF per share	$21.17
Financing cash flow	$-3.4B
Free cash flow	$9.4B
Free cash flow minus SBC	$8.5B
Gross profit	$38.7B
Income taxes	$3B
Investing cash flow	$-6.4B
Net borrowing	$312M
Net cash flow	$6B
Net income	$9.2B
Operating cash flow minus SBC	$14.9B
Operating income	$11.5B
Revenue	$303.2B
Stock-based compensation	$924M

Financial strength

Debt, cash, solvency, accounting-quality, and balance-sheet signals.

Metric	Value
Altman Z-Score	9.09
Book value per share	$80.77
Debt / EBITDA	0.69
Debt / equity	0.28
Debt / FCF	1.09
Goodwill	$953M
Interest coverage	79.39
Long-term assets	$42.5B
Long-term liabilities	$9.3B
Net cash (debt)	$11.1B
Net cash / market cap	2.55%
Net cash growth	107.89%
Net debt / EBITDA	-0.78
Net debt / equity	-0.31
Net debt / FCF	-1.19
Piotroski F-Score	6
Property, plant and equipment	$39.7B
Shareholders' equity	$35.8B
Tangible book value	$34.9B
Tangible book value per share	$78.62
Total assets	$89B
Total cash	$21.3B
Total debt	$10.2B
Total liabilities	$53.2B
WACC	8.86%

Liquidity

Current-asset coverage and working-capital efficiency metrics.

Metric	Value
Asset turnover	3.65
Current assets	$46.6B
Current liabilities	$44B
Current ratio	1.06
Inventory turnover	14.13
Net working capital	$-16.1B
Quick ratio	0.57
Working capital	$2.6B
Working capital turnover	155.38

Dividends and buybacks

Dividend yield, payout, buybacks, and shareholder-yield indicators.

Metric	Value
Buyback yield / dilution	0.09%
Dividend growth	12.85%
Dividend growth (10Y)	12.55%
Dividend growth (3Y)	12.97%
Dividend growth (5Y)	13.21%
Dividend growth years	21
Dividend payment date	2026-11-13
Dividend payment years	23
Dividend payout frequency	Quarterly
Dividend per share	$5.88
Dividend yield	0.6%
Ex-dividend date	2026-10-30
FCF payout ratio	27.77%
Last dividend	$1.47
Payout ratio	28.32%
Shareholder yield	0.68%

Performance and technicals

Returns, volatility, beta, momentum, RSI, and moving-average context.

Metric	Value
10Y price change	550.7%
10Y return CAGR	22.65%
10Y total return	670.28%
150-day SMA	$965.75
15Y price change	1,051.9%
15Y return CAGR	20.27%
15Y total return	1,494.52%
1D price change	-0.97%
1M price change	6.38%
1M total return	6.38%
1W price change	-1.3%
1W total return	-1.3%
1Y price change	5.57%
1Y return CAGR	6.19%
1Y total return	6.19%
20-day SMA	$969.20
200-day SMA	$970.33
20Y price change	1,751.82%
20Y return CAGR	17.95%
20Y total return	2,617.76%
3M price change	3.16%
3M total return	3.16%
3Y price change	80.77%
3Y return CAGR	23.44%
3Y total return	88.1%
50-day SMA	$940.93
50-day SMA vs 200-day SMA	50under200
52-week high	$1,096.50
52-week high date	2026-05-19
52-week low	$844.06
52-week low date	2025-12-16
5Y price change	100.7%
5Y return CAGR	16.2%
5Y total return	111.78%
6M price change	-1.64%
6M total return	-1.34%
After-hours change	-0.1%
After-hours close	$982.54
After-hours price	$981.51
All-time high	$1,096.50
All-time high date	2026-05-19
All-time low	$6.00
All-time low date	1995-01-12
Average true range (ATR)	$15.84
Average volume	2.1M
Beta (1Y)	-0.02
Beta (2Y)	0.34
Beta (5Y)	0.87
Change from 52-week high	-10.39%
Change from 52-week low	16.41%
Change from all-time high	-10.47%
Change from all-time low	16,260.83%
Change from open	-0.11%
Day's gap	-0.85%
Dollar volume	$1.1B
High price	$988.50
Low price	$980.35
Monthly RSI	57.44
Open price	$983.65
Position in 52-week range	26.87%
Premarket change	-0.81%
Premarket close	$992.13
Premarket price	$984.10
Premarket volume	6K
Previous close	$992.13
Price vs 150-day SMA	1.65%
Price vs 20-day SMA	1.28%
Price vs 200-day SMA	1.17%
Price vs 50-day SMA	4.33%
Relative volume	0.52
RSI	56.87
Sharpe ratio	0.2
Sharpe ratio (3Y)	0.91
Sharpe ratio (5Y)	0.63
Sortino ratio	0.58
Sortino ratio (3Y)	1.59
Sortino ratio (5Y)	1.14
Volume	1.1M
Weekly RSI	55.02
YTD price change	13.84%
YTD total return	14.34%

Ownership and float

Institutional, insider, float, short-interest, and share-count fields.

Metric	Value
Float	442.2M
Float percentage	99.8%
Shares change (QoQ)	-0.01%
Shares change (YoY)	-0.09%
Shares held by insiders	0.1%
Shares held by institutions	73.69%
Shares outstanding	443.1M
Short % of float	1.72%
Short % of shares	1.72%
Short ratio	3.1 days

Other indicators

Additional ticker metrics that do not fit the primary research groupings.

Metric	Value
Page views	435

Deeper analysis on COST

14 sections in the full report · jump straight to what you need

Forecast

Base and Bull forecast paths with report-date return framing.

→

Valuation

Fair-value bridge, DCF, owner earnings, and peer multiples.

→

Sensitivity

Cost-of-equity and terminal-growth stress table.

→

Risks

Kill scenarios, soft-pass flags, and downside catalysts.

→

Earnings

Next earnings setup and beat / inline / miss thresholds.

→

Position sizing

Entry, exit, conviction, and quarterly monitoring rules.

→

Financials

Revenue, margins, cash flow, and balance-sheet context.

→

Peers

Relative valuation and profitability against the cohort.

→

Moat

Economic-profit evidence and competitive advantage risk.

→

Industry cycle

Sector phase, capital cycle, and secular tailwinds.

→

Quote this valuation with its source: Fair value, Potential value and the price at analysis.

Frequently asked questions

About this COST report

What is the latest published COST stock rating?

Costco Wholesale Corporation is shown with Sell in the latest published report, analyzed 2026-09-21. The hub links directly to the full analysis surface where the dated rating, fair-value bridge, risks, and scorecard are documented together.

Where can I read the full COST analysis?

The full latest published report, analyzed 2026-09-21, lives at /stocks/COST/analysis. The bare ticker page summarizes that read and links to each analysis tab; earlier editions remain under /analysis/archive.

What fair value is used for COST?

The latest published report analyzed 2026-09-21 gives COST a fair value of USD 439 and a potential value of USD 571. These are dated research outputs, not live market prices; review the valuation assumptions, sensitivity analysis, and material risks before making a decision.

How often is the COST page updated?

The hub selects the latest published stock report regardless of age and displays its analysis date (2026-09-21). Separately sourced market data is labeled with its own recorded timestamp and is never inferred from the report.

SellCOST · Fair value $439-51.0%

Read full analysis →

Category	Score	Reading
Valuation	1.5
Management	8.5
Balance Sheet	7.0
Profitability	7.0
Revenue Growth	6.0
Risk Assessment	7.5
Competitive Moat	9.0
Earnings Quality	8.0
Capital Efficiency	7.5

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

Our latest published analysis: COST rated Sell

Price

Financial snapshot

Fair-value bridge

Latest news · COST

Valuation

Profitability

Balance sheet

Trading

Base and Bull scenarios

Sensitivity: Ke × terminal growth

Scorecard

Next earnings

Sector percentile context

All COST indicators

Profile and market data

Valuation

Profitability

Growth

Financial statements

Financial strength

Liquidity

Dividends and buybacks

Performance and technicals

Ownership and float

Other indicators

Deeper analysis on COST

Frequently asked questions

Ratingverlauf