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Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

NASDAQ / Consumer Defensive / Discount Stores

Share price

982.00 USD Market dataClose of Oct 14, 2026

Market capitalisation

435.50B USD Market dataClose of Oct 14, 2026
Market data
Oct 14, 2026
Filed accounts
FY2026, filed Oct 7, 2026
Ratios computed
Oct 14, 2026
Filed years
11, FY2016 to FY2026
Four kinds of sourceSEC filingCompany statementMarket dataComputedWhat each means
SEC filingFiled with the SEC
Read from a statement the company filed with the SEC, with the form, fiscal year, filing date and accession beside it.
Company statementCompany statement
What the company says about itself in a filing: an 8-K item, the auditor, its own segment names.
Market dataMarket data
Prices, market value and what analysts publish, with the date they are as of.
ComputedComputed by ValueScreener
Worked out by us from the other three, with the inputs and the formula one press away. A score is a research output, not a rating or a recommendation.
Reading

1 of 10

Overview

What the business is, what it costs, and how it reads on four questions.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Four questions, at a glance

Quality

Return on invested capital, after tax

34.1% Computed

From the FY2026 filing

Read quality

Valuation

Price to earnings

47.26x Computed

FY2026 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read valuation

Cash generation

Free cash flow yield

2.1% Computed

FY2026 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read cash generation

Revenue and net income, as filed

FY2017 Revenue: 129.03B USDFY2017 Net income: 2.68B USDFY2018 Revenue: 141.58B USDFY2018 Net income: 3.13B USDFY2019 Revenue: 152.70B USDFY2019 Net income: 3.66B USDFY2020 Revenue: 166.76B USDFY2020 Net income: 4.00B USDFY2021 Revenue: 195.93B USDFY2021 Net income: 5.01B USDFY2022 Revenue: 226.95B USDFY2022 Net income: 5.84B USDFY2023 Revenue: 242.29B USDFY2023 Net income: 6.29B USDFY2024 Revenue: 254.45B USDFY2024 Net income: 7.37B USDFY2025 Revenue: 275.24B USDFY2025 Net income: 8.10B USDFY2026 Revenue: 303.15B USDFY2026 Net income: 9.23B USD
Revenue Net income10 filed fiscal years, from the annual reports; the table in Filings names each document.
Named tests met
7 of 30 Which tests
The business, and the score behind its five axes

The reading, in brief

Is it cheap

Price to earnings is 47.26x at the close of 2026-10-14 on FY2026 figures; the lines are 15.00x (Graham's defensive ceiling) and, by market convention, 10.00x, 25.00x and 40.00x, and this sits above the highest.

Today, against the Consumer Defensive sector (136 companies), 47.26x sits at the 88th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 13.84x to 33.06x.

Is it good

Return on invested capital was 34.1% in FY2026, in the band labelled "Exceptional" (20.0% and above), on lines anchored on Damodaran's cost-of-capital data, suggesting returns on the capital in the business well above the usual cost of that capital.

Today, against the Consumer Defensive sector (98 companies), 34.1% sits at the 95th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 2.7% to 13.7%.

Is it safe

Interest coverage was 80.59x in FY2026, in the band labelled "Comfortable" (6.00x and above), on lines anchored on Damodaran's interest-coverage table, suggesting an interest bill operating profit covers many times over.

Year by year against peers
Whether Costco Wholesale Corporation's return on invested capital stayed above the median of the Consumer Defensive sector, year by year. (FY2019 to FY2025, 7 fiscal years of Costco Wholesale Corporation with a comparable figure)
The direction
Which way Costco Wholesale Corporation's return on equity has moved, and how steadily. (FY2017 to FY2026, 10 filed years of Costco Wholesale Corporation)
What could explain it
What in Costco Wholesale Corporation's filed statements could explain the movements. (8 readings drawn from the statement lines Costco Wholesale Corporation filed)
What to check next
What to check next on Costco Wholesale Corporation, and where in its filings. (3 questions for Costco Wholesale Corporation)
In one paragraph
One paragraph on Costco Wholesale Corporation's returns, cash, balance sheet and price. (16 of sixteen figures read for Costco Wholesale Corporation)

These are COST’s filed figures. The research desk says what they mean, against peers and its own years, with what to check next.

Research COSTPart of Serious. New accounts start with 30 days of Professional, free, no card.

2 of 10

What changed

The newest filing, what it moved, and when the next one is due.

SEC filingCompany statement

The newest accounts on file are the FY2026 annual report: 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, accession 0000909832-26-000093.

3 of 10

Quality

The returns the business earns on its capital, and the margins behind them.

SEC filingComputed

Costco Wholesale Corporation: returns on capital and margins, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Return on invested capital, after tax34.1% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Return on equity25.8% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Return on capital employed, pre-tax25.9% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Return on assets10.4% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Gross margin12.8% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Operating margin3.9% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Net margin3.0% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
COST 3.0%
WMT 3.1%KO 27.3%PG 18.4%PM 27.9%
3.0%27.9%
Net margin: COST against the 4 companies named under Valuation context, each as filed for its own latest year. Placement only: no average is drawn.

4 of 10

Financial strength

What it owes against what it owns, and whether it can meet what falls due.

SEC filingComputedCompany statement

Costco Wholesale Corporation: leverage, liquidity and distress, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Debt to equity0.28 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Current ratio1.06 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Quick ratio0.62 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Interest coverage80.59x ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Altman Z-score9.24 ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Net debt-11.12B ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Total assets 89.05BTotal liabilities 53.24BShareholders' equity 35.80BOwnsOwes, and equity
Total assets Total liabilities Shareholders’ equity
The balance sheet, line by line

Financial health

What Costco Wholesale Corporation owned and owed at the end of fiscal 2026, from the balance sheet it filed (10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093).

Costco Wholesale Corporation: balance sheet position
Total assets89.05B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026
Total liabilities53.24B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026
Shareholders' equity35.80B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026
Cash21.30B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026
Total debt10.18B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026
Net debt-11.12B
Current ratio1.06
Debt to equity0.28

Read from the filed balance sheet for each year, with the income statement of the same year supplying operating profit where a ratio needs it. Nothing here is a view on whether this company is sound.

5 of 10

Valuation context

What the market charges for it, against its own record and companies like it.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Costco Wholesale Corporation: what the market charges, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Price to earnings47.26x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
P/E on trailing twelve months45.98x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · Trailing four quarters, each as known on the day; the quarterly filings are listed under Filings
Price to book12.19x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Price to sales1.44x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Enterprise value to EBIT36.49x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Enterprise value to EBITDA29.70x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Price to earnings over growth3.65 ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Diluted earnings per share20.76 USD FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Graham number194.08 USD ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093

We publish no fair value or price target of our own. Value COST on your own assumptions in the DCF workbench, starting from the filed figures.

Its own record, and companies like it

Valuation

What the market charges for Costco Wholesale Corporation today, and the multiples it has carried. No value of ours: the figures are the filings’ and the market’s.

Costco Wholesale Corporation: valuation
Share price982.00 USD
Market capitalisation435.50B USD
Enterprise value to EBITDA29.70x
Graham number194.08 USD
Diluted earnings per share, FY202620.76 USD

Price to earnings on trailing twelve months, a different basis from the fiscal-year P/E above, since Jun 1, 2017: low 25.78x, median 39.38x, high 63.27x, latest 45.98x. 2,355 trading days with a meaningful ratio. Each close over the trailing twelve months of earnings as known that day: a quarter counts from the day it was filed.

Companies like Costco Wholesale Corporation

  1. Walmart Inc. (WMT)Market cap 924.40B USD
  2. The Coca-Cola Company (KO)Market cap 394.90B USD
  3. The Procter & Gamble Company (PG)Market cap 372.20B USD
  4. Philip Morris International Inc. (PM)Market cap 320.40B USD

Same sector (Consumer Defensive) and size band (Mega, 200B and over), nearest in market value, net margin and current ratio. Each of those counts equally, by how many of the companies considered sit between the two on it. Closest first: the order is likeness and nothing else.

6 of 10

Cash generation

Whether profit arrives as cash, and what is paid back to shareholders.

SEC filingComputed

Costco Wholesale Corporation: cash generation and what is paid out, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Free cash flow yield2.1% ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Free cash flow9.38B USD ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Free cash flow margin3.1% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Dividend yield0.6% ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Payout ratio26.6% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
FY2017 Free cash flow: 4.22B USDFY2017 Net income: 2.68B USDFY2018 Free cash flow: 2.81B USDFY2018 Net income: 3.13B USDFY2019 Free cash flow: 3.36B USDFY2019 Net income: 3.66B USDFY2020 Free cash flow: 6.05B USDFY2020 Net income: 4.00B USDFY2021 Free cash flow: 5.37B USDFY2021 Net income: 5.01B USDFY2022 Free cash flow: 3.50B USDFY2022 Net income: 5.84B USDFY2023 Free cash flow: 6.75B USDFY2023 Net income: 6.29B USDFY2024 Free cash flow: 6.63B USDFY2024 Net income: 7.37B USDFY2025 Free cash flow: 7.84B USDFY2025 Net income: 8.10B USDFY2026 Free cash flow: 9.38B USDFY2026 Net income: 9.23B USD
Free cash flow Net incomeProfit that arrives as cash stands level with net income; a gap year after year is worth reading about.

7 of 10

Filings

Every figure, the year it is for and the document it was read from.

SEC filingMarket data

The filed figures

Computed from the accounts this company filed with the SEC and, in a ratio with a price in it, the last close, dated on this page. Every filed figure below carries the fiscal year and the filing date its accounts were read from, and every blank carries the reason it is blank. Nothing here is a view on this company.

Costco Wholesale Corporation: the eight ratios, with the fiscal year and filing date behind each.
FigureValueYearAs of
47.26xFY2026Oct 14, 2026
12.19xFY2026Oct 14, 2026
36.49xFY2026Oct 14, 2026
2.1%FY2026Oct 14, 2026
34.1%FY2026Oct 7, 2026
0.6%FY2026Oct 14, 2026
0.28FY2026Oct 7, 2026
1.06FY2026Oct 7, 2026
1.44xFY2026Oct 14, 2026
3.65FY2026Oct 14, 2026
9.24FY2026Oct 14, 2026
-2.70FY2026Oct 7, 2026
6/9FY2026Oct 7, 2026

The figures are computed from the accounts for fiscal 2026, the newest full year on file. 11 filed fiscal years on record, FY2016 to FY2026, from SEC EDGAR. Prices as of Oct 14, 2026. Ratios recomputed Oct 14, 2026. Two facts, because a recompute is not a fresh quote.

The year and the filing date name the statement each figure’s accounts are read from, and they stand even where the figure itself could not be computed: the line beneath a blank says what that statement did not carry. A figure’s name opens its formula and the filings behind it; a statement that names no SEC filing has no filing date, and reads n/a.

Ten years of filed figures, year by year

Ten years of filed figures

10 filed fiscal years, FY2017 to FY2026, read from the annual reports Costco Wholesale Corporation filed with the SEC. Each year names its filing. Amounts in USD, as filed.

Costco Wholesale Corporation: revenue, earnings, free cash flow and returns, by fiscal year, with the filing each year was read from
YearRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeEPS, dilutedFree cash flowOperating marginReturn on equityFiling
FY2026303.15B11.69B9.23B20.769.38B3.9%25.8%10-K, Oct 7, 20260000909832-26-000093
FY2025275.24B10.38B8.10B18.217.84B3.8%27.8%10-K, Oct 8, 20250000909832-25-000101
FY2024254.45B9.29B7.37B16.566.63B3.6%31.2%10-K, Oct 9, 20240000909832-24-000049
FY2023242.29B8.11B6.29B14.166.75B3.4%25.1%10-K, Oct 11, 20230000909832-23-000042
FY2022226.95B7.79B5.84B13.143.50B3.4%28.3%10-K, Oct 5, 20220000909832-22-000021
FY2021195.93B6.71B5.01B11.275.37B3.4%28.5%10-K, Oct 6, 20210000909832-21-000014
FY2020166.76B5.43B4.00B9.026.05B3.3%21.9%10-K, Oct 7, 20200000909832-20-000017
FY2019152.70B4.74B3.66B8.263.36B3.1%24.0%10-K, Oct 11, 20190000909832-19-000019
FY2018141.58B4.48B3.13B7.092.81B3.2%24.5%10-K, Oct 26, 20180000909832-18-000013
FY2017129.03B4.11B2.68B6.084.22B3.2%24.9%10-K, Oct 18, 20170000909832-17-000014
  • Revenue, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 10.0%
  • Earnings, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 14.7%
  • Earnings per share, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 14.6%
  • Free cash flow, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 9.3%

Every figure in this section is a line of a filed annual statement or a ratio of two of them. Nothing here is estimated or smoothed. Earnings per share filed before a share split are put on today's share count, and say so. Nothing here is a verdict on the company.

8 of 10

Risks and guardrails

The accounting screens, the published tests, and the lines you can set to be told.

ComputedCompany statement

Costco Wholesale Corporation: accounting screens and published tests, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Beneish M-score-2.70 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Piotroski F-score6/9 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Oct 7, 2026, 0000909832-26-000093
Named tests met7 of 30 Computed
Beta0.36 ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026

The named tests

Of 30 tests value investors published: 7 met, 23 not met, 0 we could not complete. Counts, never a score: a single figure would have to decide that meeting one investor’s criteria and meeting another’s are worth the same.

Which tests, by name(all 30)
Meets
High returns and growth; Low beta, profitable; ROIC at or above WACC; Near the 52-week low; High returns, low debt; Low P/S, rising earnings (James O'Shaughnessy); Cash-covered dividend
Does not
Defensive investor (Benjamin Graham); Deep value; Large cap, low P/E; Earnings yield and ROIC (Joel Greenblatt); High F-score, low P/B (Joseph Piotroski); Three forensic scores; Low PEG, low debt (Peter Lynch); Gross margin, turnover (Robert Novy-Marx); EV/EBITDA and coverage; High yield, low payout; Dividends and buybacks; Z-score and coverage (Edward Altman); Two thirds of NCAV (Benjamin Graham); P/E times P/B (Benjamin Graham); Owner earnings yield; High return on tangibles; Book or below, low debt (Walter Schloss); Tangible book or below; Cash-flow yield and ROIC; Clean books, high ROIC; Cheapest quarter on P/E (David Dreman); Cheapest quarter on P/B (David Dreman); Low P/E, growth, yield (John Neff)

9 of 10

Declared positions

Whether anybody here owns this company.

Positions declared by Javier Sanz Alvarez: no holding in any company shown here, as of October 3, 2026.

10 of 10

Next step

What to do with what you have read.

A thesis is your reason for owning it, in your words, with the figures that must stay true. Checking those figures every night against the newest filed accounts, and telling you once when one breaks, is what the subscription adds.

More on this company

What this cannot tell you

And the one that is true of all of it: This is what the numbers say today. It cannot tell you the day one of them stops being true. Nothing here can, because the reasons are not written down.

Running this once is arithmetic on public documents and you are welcome to it. Writing down why you own each company, in your own words and with the numbers that have to stay true for it to hold, and then having those numbers re-checked every night against the newest filed accounts, and against the latest close where a rule watches a price, is Professional, the plan a new account starts on for 30 days, one trial per person. It writes to you the day one breaks, and stays quiet when nothing does. The check runs every night at 23:30 UTC. A filing is picked up the night after it is published.

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ValueScreener · valuescreener.ai · Computed from accounts filed with the SEC by this company, read from EDGAR, and from dated closing prices. On this page a filed figure opens into its formula, its inputs and the statement, fiscal year and filing date it was read from, and a price into the day of its close. A figure that cannot show that trail says so.

A computation on accounts filed with the SEC, not a recommendation and not advice. Past filings do not indicate future results. Risk disclaimer.

Once a week, what changed in the filings of US-listed companies, why it can matter to a thesis, and what deserves a closer review. Grounded in filings, not market noise.

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