Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) is a Consumer Discretionary stock trading at $960.13 (as of 2026-06-24), with a market capitalization of $424.27B and a trailing P/E of 49.4. Figures are sourced from first-party U.S. SEC EDGAR filings and market data.

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates membership warehouse stores in multiple countries and sells a range of merchandise, including groceries and general merchandise categories, along with private-label and branded products. It also provides services such as pharmacies, optical services, food courts, hearing-aid centers, tire installation, and related retail and delivery offerings for members.

Understand Costco Wholesale Corporation: how it makes money

Costco operates membership warehouse stores and sells a broad range of branded and private-label merchandise, and it makes money primarily through retail sales plus membership fees from paid households and executive members.

Costco's profit model is structurally driven by membership economics (paid households and executive memberships, supported by renewal) that underpin consistently low-margin warehouse retail sales.

Revenue by segment (latest quarter)
NetSales	$69.2B

Business quality (Mixed): Strong, simple operating focus (memberships plus warehouse retail), with clear KPIs to track membership strength and comparable sales, but limited segment disclosure here and margin-level results are tightly constrained by the retail model.

Valuation: At 49× earnings, COST trades 155% above the Retail average (19×). Note: one-time items can distort reported P/E.

Bull case

Membership scale: Paid Executive Memberships are 41.2M, and Paid Household Memberships are 79.6M, giving Costco a large recurring member base.
Renewal durability signal: Worldwide Membership Renewal Rate (Excluding U.S. and Canada Metrics) is 88.7%, which supports the membership-driven side of the profit model.
Growth visibility from comps: Comparable Sales (U.S., 12 Weeks) are 5.9%, and comparable sales are also reported as positive for Canada (10.1%) and other international (13.0%).

Bear case

Low-margin retail sensitivity: With operating margin at 4.0%, Costco has less room to absorb operating cost increases if comparable sales or traffic weaken.
E-commerce mix still modest: E-commerce Mix is 7.9%, so if digital growth does not translate into stronger economics, overall profitability could remain constrained by the warehouse model.
Comparable sales can be volatile: Comparable Sales are tracked across regions and can move quickly, so a slowdown in comps would pressure retail momentum that sits on top of the membership base.

Valuation — source: SEC EDGAR (first-party)
Price	$960.13
Market Cap	$424.27B
P/E Ratio	49.4
EV / EBITDA	30.6
Price / Book	13.00
Price / Sales	1.48
Dividend Yield	0.5%
DCF Value (model)	$493.33
DCF Upside vs Price	-48.6%

Profitability & Growth — source: SEC EDGAR
Revenue (TTM)	$275.24B
Net Margin	2.9%
Return on Equity	26.4%
Debt / Equity	0.17
Current Ratio	1.07
Revenue Growth (YoY)	11.6%
EPS Growth (YoY)	15.2%
FCF Growth (YoY)	16.3%

Financial Health — source: SEC EDGAR
Altman Z-Score	9.77 (safe)
Piotroski F-Score	6/9 (moderate)

Valuation vs Sector & Industry
Stock P/E	49.4
Sector P/E (Consumer Discretionary)	21.6
Industry P/E (Retail)	19.4
vs Sector	129.1%
vs Industry	155.2%

Smart-Money Activity — SEC Form 4 / 13F / Congressional disclosures
Insider Sells (12mo)	13
Top Institutional Holder	VANGUARD GROUP INC ($37.62B)
Institutional Holders Tracked	10
Congressional Trades (recent)	10

Company
Sector	Consumer Discretionary
Industry	Retail
CEO	Ron Vachris
Employees	333,000
Country	US
IPO Date	1986-07-09

Related Companies (Business model: Brick-and-Mortar Retail (incl. Omnichannel); 8 closest by market cap; US-domiciled)

Data as of 2026-06-24.

Figures sourced from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC EDGAR) filings and market data. Not personalized investment advice.