Costco Wholesale Corporation
COST Consumer Defensive Discount Stores
Costco Wholesale Corporation’s revenue for fiscal 2026 (year ended August 2026) was $303.2 billion, up 10.1% from fiscal 2025. In the quarter to August 2026, revenue grew 11.1%, EPS grew 14.8%, free cash flow grew 30.7% and total debt rose 6.46%, each against the same quarter a year earlier. Member of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100; revenue growth for ten consecutive years, operating cash flow growth for three.
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Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Gross margin
Costco Wholesale Corporation's gross margin over the twelve months to 31 August 2026 was 12.8%. Over the past ten years it has ranged from 12.2% (fiscal 2022) to 13.3% (fiscal 2016); the current reading is higher than 33% of that period. That is below the Discount Stores industry median of 27.3% and below the Consumer Defensive sector median of 35.0%.
Gross margin, annual
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Annual newest first
| Period | Gross margin | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 12.8% | (0.02) |
| FY2025 | 12.8% | 0.23 |
| FY2024 | 12.6% | 0.35 |
| FY2023 | 12.3% | 0.11 |
| FY2022 | 12.2% | (0.73) |
| FY2021 | 12.9% | (0.21) |
| FY2020 | 13.1% | 0.11 |
| FY2019 | 13.0% | (0.03) |
| FY2018 | 13.0% | (0.28) |
| FY2017 | 13.3% | (0.03) |
Quarterly newest first
| Period | Gross margin | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | 12.7% | (0.03) |
| May 2026 | 12.8% | 0.01 |
| Feb 2026 | 12.8% | (0.31) |
| Nov 2025 | 13.1% | 0.16 |
| 46 more quarters | Free account |
Against its own ten years
Gross margin against peers
| Company | Gross margin |
|---|---|
| OLLI Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. compare | 41.6% |
| DLTR Dollar Tree, Inc. compare | 38.7% |
| DG Dollar General Corporation compare | 31.2% |
| TGT Target Corporation compare | 29.3% |
| WMT Walmart Inc. compare | 25.2% |
| BJ BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. compare | 18.2% |
| PSMT PriceSmart, Inc. compare | 17.6% |
| TBBB BBB Foods Inc. compare | 16.4% |
| COST Costco Wholesale Corporation | 12.8% |
| Discount Stores industry median | 27.3% |
| Consumer Defensive sector median | 35.0% |
| Market median | 46.2% |
What Gross margin is
Gross Margin tells an investor how much of each sale a company keeps after paying the direct costs of making or buying what it sells.
Gross Profit ÷ Revenue
More on COST
- Revenue
- Net income
- EPS (diluted)
- EBITDA
- Free cash flow
- Operating cash flow
- Operating margin
- Net margin
- Free cash flow margin
- P/E ratio
- P/S ratio
- P/B ratio
- Price to free cash flow
- EV/EBITDA
- EV/Sales
- EV/FCF
- Return on equity
- Return on assets
- Return on invested capital
- Debt to equity
- Current ratio
- Total debt
- Shares outstanding
- Book value per share
- Revenue growth
- Piotroski F-score
- Altman Z-score
- Beneish M-score
- The full statement