Stocks · Consumer Defensive · Discount Stores
Costco Wholesale Corporation COST
$920.65 +0.62% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $408.29B
Strong growthLow risk
Next earnings report: Dec 10, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The shares trade at 33.4× trailing earnings, lower than 95% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $27.59, up 51.5% year over year.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Defensive sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth89Strong
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 24%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 14%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 43%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 28%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 39%
Quality74Positive
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 8%
- Gross marginBottom 13%
- Operating marginBottom 36%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 46%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 35%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 8%
- Interest coverTop 8%
Value38Weak
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 42%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 20%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 20%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 46%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 15%
Momentum61Neutral
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 40%
- 6-month returnBottom 44%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 38%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 27%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 44%
Revisions35Weak
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 28%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 38%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 28%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 37%
Stability99Exceptional
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 2%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 5%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 44%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 8%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 9.2% | 10.1% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 12.8% | 51.5% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 12.8% | 12.8% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 3.8% | 3.9% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 2.8% | 3.1% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 10.1% | 9.2% | ↑ | Top 24% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 51.5% | 12.8% | ↑ | Top 14% |
| Gross margin | 12.8% | 12.8% | ↓ | Bottom 13% |
| Operating margin | 3.9% | 3.8% | ↑ | Bottom 36% |
| Net margin | 3.0% | 2.9% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 3.1% | 2.8% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 18.6% | — | Top 8% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 7.8% | — | Top 28% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.72×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -7.4%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.3%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +13.5 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- -0.81×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 80.6×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.60%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.21%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.81%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -0.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -0.0%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Aug 30, 2026 (filed Sep 24, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 1
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +2.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -0.8%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 1 of 7
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $1,092.67
- Target vs current price
- +18.7%
- Analysts with a rating
- 59
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 66%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2026 | +3.2% | -0.9% | +0.6% | — | — |
| May 28, 2026 | -1.4% | -0.8% | -4.2% | -6.1% | -5.6% |
| Mar 5, 2026 | +0.7% | -2.4% | -1.4% | -1.0% | -5.0% |
| Dec 11, 2025 | +5.4% | +1.2% | -1.3% | +5.8% | +14.1% |
| Sep 25, 2025 | +1.2% | -0.2% | -3.0% | -0.1% | -9.3% |
| May 29, 2025 | +0.9% | -0.4% | +3.8% | -3.0% | -5.4% |
| Mar 6, 2025 | -1.7% | -2.0% | -11.5% | -7.9% | -0.7% |
| Dec 12, 2024 | +6.6% | -0.6% | -3.0% | -7.0% | -6.8% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2026 | $6.75 | $6.54 | +3.2% | $93.87B |
| May 28, 2026 | $4.93 | $5.00 | -1.4% | $70.53B |
| Mar 5, 2026 | $4.58 | $4.55 | +0.7% | $69.60B |
| Dec 11, 2025 | $4.50 | $4.27 | +5.4% | $67.31B |
| Sep 25, 2025 | $5.87 | $5.80 | +1.2% | $86.16B |
| May 29, 2025 | $4.28 | $4.24 | +0.9% | $63.20B |
| Mar 6, 2025 | $4.02 | $4.09 | -1.7% | $63.72B |
| Dec 12, 2024 | $4.04 | $3.79 | +6.6% | $62.15B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 33.4× | 46.2× | 5th | Bottom 42% |
| P/E (forward) | 40.4× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 27.6× | — | — | Bottom 20% |
| EV / Sales | 1.31× | — | — | Bottom 46% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.30% | — | — | Bottom 20% |
| Earnings yield | 3.00% | — | — | Bottom 42% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 32.5× – 57.3× since Aug 31, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +0.4%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +51.5%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -35.3%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -1.2%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.1%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -1.3%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -4.2%
- RSI (14)
- 51.4
- Relative volume
- 0.84×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 18.1%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 31th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.36
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.26
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -15.9%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -21.1%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 7, 2022 | May 20, 2022 | -31.5% | 30 days | 389 days (Dec 7, 2023) |
| Feb 13, 2025 | Dec 22, 2025 | -21.1% | 215 days | 101 days (May 19, 2026) |
| Nov 30, 2020 | Mar 8, 2021 | -20.5% | 66 days | 74 days (Jun 22, 2021) |
| May 19, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 | -18.3% | 82 days | Not yet recovered |
| Dec 29, 2021 | Jan 25, 2022 | -15.9% | 18 days | 44 days (Mar 29, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $408.29B
- P/E (TTM)
- 33.4
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $27.59
- Revenue (TTM)
- $303.15B
- Dividend yield
- 0.60%
- 52-week range
- $844.06 – $1,096.50
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $226.95B | $242.29B | $254.45B | $275.24B | $303.15B |
| Gross profit | $27.57B | $29.70B | $32.09B | $35.35B | $38.88B |
| Operating income | $7.79B | $8.11B | $9.29B | $10.38B | $11.69B |
| Net income | $5.84B | $6.29B | $7.37B | $8.10B | $9.23B |
| EPS (diluted) | $13.14 | $14.16 | $16.56 | $18.21 | $20.76 |
| Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Q4 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $62.15B | $63.72B | $63.20B | $86.16B | $67.31B | $69.60B | $70.53B | $95.72B |
| Net income | $1.80B | $1.79B | $1.90B | $2.61B | $2.00B | $2.04B | $2.19B | $3.00B |
| EPS (diluted) | $4.04 | $4.02 | $4.28 | $5.87 | $4.50 | $4.58 | $4.93 | $13.58 |
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $7.39B | $11.07B | $11.34B | $13.34B | $15.82B |
| Capital expenditure | -$3.89B | -$4.32B | -$4.71B | -$5.50B | -$6.43B |
| Free cash flow | $3.50B | $6.75B | $6.63B | $7.84B | $9.39B |
| Dividends paid | -$1.50B | -$1.25B | -$9.04B | -$2.18B | -$2.46B |
| Net share buybacks | -$439.0M | -$676.0M | -$700.0M | -$903.0M | -$848.0M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $21.30B
- Total assets
- $89.05B
- Total liabilities
- $53.24B
- Total debt
- $8.58B
- Net debt
- -$11.63B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $35.80B
As of Aug 30, 2026 (filed Sep 24, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | $1.47 | Aug 7, 2026 |
| May 1, 2026 | $1.47 | May 15, 2026 |
| Jan 30, 2026 | $1.30 | Feb 13, 2026 |
| Oct 31, 2025 | $1.30 | Nov 14, 2025 |
| Aug 1, 2025 | $1.30 | Aug 15, 2025 |
| May 2, 2025 | $1.30 | May 16, 2025 |
| Feb 7, 2025 | $1.16 | Feb 21, 2025 |
| Nov 1, 2024 | $1.16 | Nov 15, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 7,360,574
- Days to cover
- 3.67
- Change vs previous report
- -2.9%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jan 14, 2000
- 2-for-1
- Oct 22, 1993
- 2-for-1
- Mar 9, 1992
- 3-for-2
- May 16, 1991
- 2-for-1
- Feb 4, 1986
- 2-for-1