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) Return on equity
Costco Wholesale Corporation's return on equity over the twelve months to 31 August 2026 was 28.4%. Over the past ten years it has ranged from 20.3% (fiscal 2016) to 30.7% (fiscal 2025); the current reading is higher than 75% of that period. That is above the Discount Stores industry median of 20.8% and above the Consumer Defensive sector median of 1.38%.
Return on equity, annual
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Annual newest first
| Period | Return on equity | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 28.4% | (2.29) |
| FY2025 | 30.7% | 0.42 |
| FY2024 | 30.3% | 2.74 |
| FY2023 | 27.5% | (2.65) |
| FY2022 | 30.2% | 2.96 |
| FY2021 | 27.2% | 3.88 |
| FY2020 | 23.3% | (2.17) |
| FY2019 | 25.5% | (0.41) |
| FY2018 | 25.9% | 3.03 |
| FY2017 | 22.9% | 2.61 |
Against its own ten years
Return on equity against peers
| Company | Return on equity |
|---|---|
| DLTR Dollar Tree, Inc. compare | 45.9% |
| COST Costco Wholesale Corporation | 28.4% |
| BJ BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. compare | 27.7% |
| TGT Target Corporation compare | 26.4% |
| WMT Walmart Inc. compare | 22.0% |
| DG Dollar General Corporation compare | 19.7% |
| OLLI Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. compare | 14.9% |
| PSMT PriceSmart, Inc. compare | 12.1% |
| TBBB BBB Foods Inc. compare | −65.8% |
| Discount Stores industry median | 20.8% |
| Consumer Defensive sector median | 1.38% |
| Market median | 1.35% |
What Return on equity is
ROE shows how much profit a company earns for its shareholders on the equity they have in the business.
Annual: Net Income Allotted to Shareholders ÷ Average Common Equity; TTM: Net Income Allotted to Shareholders ÷ Average Common Equity (latest quarter)
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 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