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Costco Wholesale Corporation COST

Consumer Defensive  —  Discount Stores
915.68 5.34 0.59% as of 1 Oct
Market cap
$403.5B
P/E
44.1×
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) Return on invested capital

Costco Wholesale Corporation's return on invested capital over the twelve months to 31 August 2026 was 35.3%. Over the past ten years it has ranged from 18.0% (fiscal 2016) to 35.3% (fiscal 2026) — the current reading is the highest in ten years. That is above the Discount Stores industry median of 13.2% and above the Consumer Defensive sector median of 0.14%.

Return on invested capital, annual

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Annual

Period Return on invested capital Change (points)
FY2026 35.3% 2.22
FY2025 33.1% 1.54
FY2024 31.6% 0.43
FY2023 31.2% 1.00
FY2022 30.2% (1.15)
FY2021 31.3% 5.19
FY2020 26.1% 3.27
FY2019 22.8% 0.30
FY2018 22.5% 1.07
FY2017 21.5% 3.49

Against its own ten years

Low 18.0% High 35.3%
Ten-year median 28.1%
Current reading's percentile 100

Return on invested capital against peers

Company Return on invested capital
COST Costco Wholesale Corporation 35.3%
DLTR Dollar Tree, Inc. compare 26.0%
BJ BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. compare 19.2%
TGT Target Corporation compare 13.6%
WMT Walmart Inc. compare 13.5%
PSMT PriceSmart, Inc. compare 12.9%
OLLI Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. compare 12.5%
DG Dollar General Corporation compare 12.4%
TBBB BBB Foods Inc. compare −3.83%
Discount Stores industry median 13.2%
Consumer Defensive sector median 0.14%
Market median 0.00%

What Return on invested capital is

Return on Invested Capital shows how much after-tax operating profit a company earns on the money its lenders and shareholders have put in.

TTM: (Operating Income × 0.625) ÷ (Shareholders Equity (Total) (latest quarter) + Long Term Debt (Total) (latest quarter) + Current Part of Debt (latest quarter) − Cash & Short Term Investments (latest quarter)); Annual: (Operating Income × 0.625) ÷ (Shareholders Equity (Total) + Long Term Debt (Total) + Current Part of Debt − Cash & Short Term Investments)

The full definition of Return on invested capital →

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