Costco Wholesale Corp (COST)

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. 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.

Symbol: COST
Exchange: Nasdaq
Sector: Consumer Defensive
Industry: Discount Stores
Market cap: $405.25B
52 week range: 844.06 - 1096.5

Valuation

Share price: $914.94 (close of 2026-10-01)
P/E (TTM): 45.92x
Price to book: 12.09x
Price to free cash flow: 46.02x
Enterprise value: $393.39B
Book value per share: $75.55

Price performance

Period	Change
1 day	+0.51%
5 days	+2.06%
1 month	-2.66%
3 months	-1.05%
6 months	-8.19%
Year to date	+6.10%
1 year	-0.26%
3 years	+61.94%
5 years	+104.09%
10 years	+499.92%
All time	+8217.64%

Members of Congress who disclosed COST trades

Greg Landsman · Lisa McClain · Scott Franklin · Gilbert Ray Cisneros · Richard McCormick · Bruce Westerman · James Comer · Jefferson Shreve · Val Hoyle · Alan Armstrong · Dan Newhouse · John Boozman

And 2 others

Profitability and growth

Return on equity: 27.77%
Return on invested capital: 34.75%
Return on assets: 10.50%
Return on capital employed: 25.96%
Gross margin: 12.84%
Net margin: 2.94%
EBITDA margin: 4.65%
Revenue growth: 8.17%
Net income growth: 9.94%
Free cash flow growth: 18.22%

Cash flow and balance sheet

Free cash flow yield (TTM): 2.17%
Current ratio: 1.07x
Net debt to EBITDA: -0.83x

Latest reported year

Period end: 2025-08-31
Fiscal year: 2025
Revenue: $275.24B
Cost of revenue: $239.89B
Gross profit: $35.35B
EBITDA: $12.81B
Net income: $8.10B
Earnings per share: $18.24
Interest expense: $154.00M
Shares outstanding: 443.99M

Income statement by year

Period end	Revenue	Gross profit	Net income	EPS
2025-08-31	$275.24B	$35.35B	$8.10B	$18.24
2024-09-01	$254.45B	$32.09B	$7.37B	$16.59
2023-09-03	$242.29B	$29.70B	$6.29B	$14.18
2022-08-28	$226.95B	$27.57B	$5.84B	$13.17
2021-08-29	$195.93B	$25.25B	$5.01B	$11.30
2020-08-30	$166.76B	$21.82B	$4.00B	$9.05
2019-09-01	$152.70B	$16.46B	$3.66B	$8.32
2018-09-02	$141.58B	$18.42B	$3.13B	$7.15
2017-09-03	$129.03B	$17.14B	$2.68B	$6.11
2016-08-28	$118.72B	$15.82B	$2.35B	$5.36

Margins and returns by year

Period end	Gross margin	Net margin	Return on equity	Return on capital
2025-08-31	12.84%	2.94%	27.77%	34.75%
2024-09-01	12.61%	2.90%	31.19%	33.48%
2023-09-03	12.26%	2.60%	25.11%	31.64%
2022-08-28	12.15%	2.57%	28.30%	31.49%
2021-08-29	12.88%	2.56%	27.70%	29.89%
2020-08-30	13.09%	2.40%	21.40%	25.03%
2019-09-01	10.78%	2.40%	23.48%	28.36%
2018-09-02	13.01%	2.21%	23.92%	25.90%
2017-09-03	13.29%	2.08%	24.18%	23.30%
2016-08-28	13.32%	1.98%	19.06%	19.03%

Cash and debt by year

Period end	Cash	Debt
2025-08-31	$15.28B	$5.71B
2024-09-01	$11.14B	$5.79B
2023-09-03	$15.23B	$5.38B
2022-08-28	$11.05B	$6.48B
2021-08-29	$12.18B	$6.69B
2020-08-30	$13.30B	$7.51B
2019-09-01	$9.44B	$5.12B
2018-09-02	$7.26B	$6.49B
2017-09-03	$5.78B	$6.57B
2016-08-28	$4.73B	$4.06B

Free cash flow by year

Period end	Free cash flow	Stock-based compensation
2025-08-31	$7.84B	$860.00M
2024-09-01	$6.63B	$818.00M
2023-09-03	$6.75B	$774.00M
2022-08-28	$3.50B	$724.00M
2021-08-29	$5.37B	$665.00M
2020-08-30	$6.05B	$619.00M
2019-09-01	$3.36B	$595.00M
2018-09-02	$2.81B	$544.00M
2017-09-03	$4.22B	$514.00M
2016-08-28	$643.00M	$459.00M

Dividend history

Most recent payment: 2026-07-24
Paid in the last twelve months: $5.54

Payment date	Dividend per share
2026-07-24	$1.47
2026-05-01	$1.47
2026-01-30	$1.30
2025-10-31	$1.30
2025-08-01	$1.30
2025-05-02	$1.30
2025-02-07	$1.16
2024-11-01	$1.16

Investor relations

Past earnings dates

Reported	Fiscal period	EPS estimate
2026-09-24	Aug/2026	$6.48
2026-05-28	-	-
2026-03-05	-	-
2026-01-23	-	-
2025-12-11	-	-
2025-09-25	-	-
2025-05-29	-	-
2025-05-28	-	-

Filings and sources

Company website: costco.com
SEC filings: 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K on EDGAR
Earnings calendar: All upcoming reports

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Understanding these figures

Price-to-earnings ratio · Discounted cash flow · Free cash flow · Earnings per share · Return on equity · Gross margin vs net margin · Reading a balance sheet · Debt and leverage · Dividend yield · Insider transactions and Form 4 · How to read a stock chart

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