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Costco Wholesale Corporation COST

Consumer Defensive  —  Discount Stores
910.34 (14.25) (1.54%) as of 30 Sep
Market cap
$410.1B
P/E
44.5×
S&P 500 Member Nasdaq 100 Member Cash Flow Champion (3y) Revenue Champion (10y)
Indexes indicate stock being part of an index,
Growth Flags show if company had growth for consecutive years
Overview Business Profile Financial Analysis Income Statement Balance Sheet Cash Flow Metrics & Ratios 10-Q 10-K

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Financial Analysis

Updated · Covers results through Q3 FY2026 · How this is made

Snapshot

Costco generated revenue of $275.2 billion, operating income of $10.4 billion, and net income of $8.1 billion in FY2025. Diluted EPS was $18.21 in FY2025, on weighted average shares of 444.0 million shares in FY2025.

The latest reported quarter, Q3 FY2026, recorded revenue of $70.5 billion, gross profit of $9.0 billion, operating income of $2.8 billion, and net income of $2.2 billion. Diluted EPS was $4.93 in Q3 FY2026. Revenue was $293.6 billion and net income was $8.8 billion over the TTM to Q3 FY2026.

Growth

Revenue rose 8.17% in FY2025 against FY2024, reaching $275.2 billion in FY2025. Revenue compound annual growth was 6.64% over FY2022–FY2025 and 10.5% over FY2020–FY2025. Diluted EPS grew 9.96% in FY2025 against FY2024 to $18.21 in FY2025, with compound annual growth of 11.5% over FY2022–FY2025 and 15.1% over FY2020–FY2025.

Free cash flow was $7.8 billion in FY2025, up 18.2% in FY2025 against FY2024. In Q3 FY2026, revenue increased 11.6% against Q3 FY2025, while diluted EPS increased 15.2% over the same period. Free cash flow decreased −12.6% in Q3 FY2026 against Q3 FY2025.

Profitability

Gross margin was 12.8%, operating margin was 3.77%, pre-tax margin was 3.93%, and net margin was 2.94% in FY2025. Over FY2020–FY2025, gross margin changed by −0.2 percentage points, while operating margin changed by 0.5 percentage points, pre-tax margin changed by 0.7 percentage points, and net margin changed by 0.5 percentage points.

Return on equity was 30.7%, return on assets was 11.0%, and return on invested capital was 33.1% in FY2025. In Q3 FY2026, gross margin was 12.8% and operating margin was 3.99%. Industry median comparisons are not reported.

Balance sheet

Total debt was $5.7 billion, cash and short-term investments were $15.3 billion, and net debt was −$9.6 billion in FY2025. Shareholders’ equity was $29.2 billion and working capital was $1.3 billion in FY2025. Book value per share was $65.69 in FY2025.

Net debt expanded to −$14.3 billion in Q3 FY2026, compared with −$9.6 billion in Q4 FY2025. The current ratio was 1.1× and debt to equity was 0.2× in Q3 FY2026. These measures show cash exceeded total debt in FY2025, while the latest reported liquidity ratios are available for Q3 FY2026.

Cash flow & capital return

Operating cash flow was $13.3 billion and capital expenditure was $5.5 billion in FY2025. Free cash flow was $7.8 billion in FY2025, equal to 96.8% of net income in FY2025. Operating cash flow increased 17.6% in FY2025 against FY2024, while free cash flow increased 18.2% in FY2025 against FY2024.

Dividends paid were $2.2 billion and net share repurchases were $903.0 million in FY2025. Capital returned to shareholders was $3.1 billion in FY2025 and $23.1 billion over FY2021–FY2025. Weighted average shares were 444.0 million shares in FY2025, and the share count changed 0.38% over FY2020–FY2025.

Valuation

Market capitalisation was $398.0 billion as of September 24, 2026. The P/E was 45.0× as of September 24, 2026, above the five-year median of 39.9× over the five fiscal years to FY2025 and the ten-year median of 38.8× over the ten fiscal years to FY2025.

  • P/S was 1.4× as of September 24, 2026, above the five-year median of 1.0× and ten-year median of 1.0× for their stated historical periods.
  • P/B was 11.9× as of September 24, 2026, above the five-year median of 11.2× and ten-year median of 9.0× for their stated historical periods.
  • EV/Sales was 1.3× as of September 24, 2026, above both historical medians; EV/Cash flow was 43.6× as of September 24, 2026, below its five-year median of 52.0× and above its ten-year median of 39.4×.

Industry median comparisons are not reported.

What changed since last quarter

Revenue rose 1.34% in Q3 FY2026 against Q2 FY2026, to $70.5 billion in Q3 FY2026 from $69.6 billion in Q2 FY2026. Diluted EPS rose 7.64% in Q3 FY2026 against Q2 FY2026, while free cash flow rose 19.3% over the same period. Operating margin increased 0.2 percentage points in Q3 FY2026 against Q2 FY2026, and gross margin changed 0.0 percentage points over the same period.

Against Q3 FY2025, revenue increased 11.6% and diluted EPS increased 15.2% in Q3 FY2026. Gross margin decreased −0.2 percentage points in Q3 FY2026 against Q3 FY2025, while operating margin changed 0.0 percentage points. No management explanation for these changes is reported.

Open questions

  • What factors drove the quarterly changes in revenue and diluted EPS?
  • What explains the year-over-year decrease in quarterly free cash flow?
  • How are capital expenditures allocated across the business?
  • What factors caused gross margin to decline from a year earlier?

This page is for information only. It is not investment advice, a recommendation or an offer to buy or sell any security. Figures may contain errors; verify against the company's filings.