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. 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) Piotroski F-score
Costco Wholesale Corporation's Piotroski F-score for fiscal 2026 is 7 out of 9: 7 of nine tests of profitability, leverage and efficiency passed, down from 8 in fiscal 2025.
Piotroski F-score, annual
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Annual newest first
| Period | Piotroski F-score | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 7 | (1.00) |
| FY2025 | 8 | 2.00 |
| FY2024 | 6 | 0.00 |
| FY2023 | 6 | (1.00) |
| FY2022 | 7 | 1.00 |
| FY2021 | 6 | 1.00 |
| FY2020 | 5 | 0.00 |
| FY2019 | 5 | (1.00) |
| FY2018 | 6 | (1.00) |
| FY2017 | 7 | — |
How fiscal 2026’s score is made up
| Test | This year | Year before | Result | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive return on assets | 11.11% | 11.02% | Pass | 1 |
| Positive operating cash flow | 15.83b | 13.34b | Pass | 1 |
| Rising return on assets | 11.11% | 11.02% | Pass | 1 |
| Cash flow above net income | 6.60b | 5.24b | Pass | 1 |
| Falling long-term leverage | 0.05 | 0.08 | Pass | 1 |
| Rising current ratio | 1.06 | 1.03 | Pass | 1 |
| No new shares issued | 443,953,000 | 443,985,000 | Pass | 1 |
| Rising gross margin | 12.82% | 12.84% | Fail | 0 |
| Rising asset turnover | 3.65 | 3.75 | Fail | 0 |
| Piotroski F-score | Strong — most fundamentals improved | 7 | ||
How the Piotroski F-score works
One point for each of nine tests, this fiscal year against the one before: positive return on assets, positive operating cash flow, rising return on assets, cash flow above net income, falling long-term leverage, a rising current ratio, no new shares issued, a rising gross margin and rising asset turnover. The ratios are the ones on this site, so each can be checked.
Joseph Piotroski (2000) called 8–9 high and 0–1 low; reading it in three bands is the common convention:
| 7–9 | Strong — most fundamentals improved |
|---|---|
| 4–6 | Mixed |
| 0–3 | Weak — most fundamentals deteriorated |
Where this differs from the paper: return on assets is on average rather than beginning-of-year assets, and weighted basic shares stand in for shares issued. The score is shown only when all nine tests can be worked out, which takes three fiscal years; banks and insurers, which report no current assets or gross profit, have none.
Piotroski F-score against peers
| Company | Piotroski F-score |
|---|---|
| OLLI Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. compare | 8 |
| DLTR Dollar Tree, Inc. compare | 8 |
| BJ BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. compare | 8 |
| DG Dollar General Corporation compare | 7 |
| COST Costco Wholesale Corporation | 7 |
| WMT Walmart Inc. compare | 7 |
| TGT Target Corporation compare | 6 |
| PSMT PriceSmart, Inc. compare | 6 |
| TBBB BBB Foods Inc. compare | 2 |
What Piotroski F-score is
The Piotroski F-Score tells an investor how many signs of improving profitability, funding and efficiency a company shows against a year earlier.
One point for each of nine tests against a year earlier: positive return on assets, positive operating cash flow, rising return on assets, cash flow above net income, falling long-term leverage, rising current ratio, no new shares issued, rising gross margin, and rising asset turnover
More on COST
- Revenue
- Net income
- EPS (diluted)
- EBITDA
- Free cash flow
- Operating cash flow
- Gross margin
- 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
- Altman Z-score
- Beneish M-score
- The full statement