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.

1,003.66 14.55 −1.43%
Market cap
$451.2B
P/E
48.3×
Fwd P/E
43.4×
Dividend yield
0.70%
F-score
7/9
Altman Z
9.04
Beneish M
−2.66
Dividend safety
80/100

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Gross margin

Alert me on 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

Against its own ten years

Low 12.2% High 13.3%
Ten-year median 12.9%
Current reading's percentile 41

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

The full definition of Gross margin →

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