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.

Revenue
+11.1%
EPS
+14.8%
Free cash flow
+30.3%
Total debt
+6.46%

Quarter to August 2026, against a year earlier

1,092.38 4.77 +0.44%
Market cap
$482.0B
P/E
52.6×
Fwd P/E
46.2×
Dividend yield
0.52%
F-score
7/9
ROIC
35.3%
Net debt / EBITDA
−1.1×
Dividend safety
80/100

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) valuation and DCF model

What the price implies · reverse DCF

At $1,092.38 the price implies free cash flow after share-based pay growing 19.2% a year for ten years.

Free cash flow after share-based pay grew 16.5% a year over the last ten years, 19.8% over the last five. The price asks for close to its ten-year rate. The industry’s median company is priced for 11.6%.

In August 2017 the price assumed 15.1% a year; Costco Wholesale Corporation went on to grow free cash flow after share-based pay 9.6% a year to FY2026.

Price implies
19.2%
Last 5 years, reported
19.8%
Last 10 years, reported
16.5%
Industry median implies
11.6%

The headline discounts the last twelve months’ free cash flow after share-based pay at 9.0% for ten years and grows it 2.5% a year after that, the same for every company, so the figure compares across the market (how a reverse DCF works).

The other way round · DCF
The price needs
19.2% a year for ten years
$1,092.38
today’s price
Its base case
16.5% a year for five years, then 9.9%
$724.38
33.7% below today’s price

Both are growth in free cash flow after share-based pay, discounted at 9.0%, with 2.5% a year after year ten.

Base case on its own ten-year record Costco Wholesale Corporation’s own growth, carried forward

Its assumptions

Powerpack lets you start from a scenario and type over any of them.

The base case’s inputs, which Powerpack lets you change
1 · Cash flow to equity
the four quarters to August 2026, from the 10-Q and 10-K filings, before share-based pay

Yearly growth in cash flow. It usually slows as the company matures.

Today’s price implies free cash flow after share-based pay growing 19.2% a year for ten years.

2 · Rates

Cost of equity is the yearly return shareholders require, typically 8–11%. Terminal growth is growth forever after year 10, usually near long-run inflation, 2–3%.

3 · Per share

Diluted shares outstanding. Net debt, under Advanced inputs, is taken off before dividing.

Advanced inputs
negative is net cash
new shares the cash flow does not pay for

Against Costco Wholesale Corporation’s own cost of capital: risk-free 4.3% + beta 0.85 × equity premium 4.5% = 8.1% cost of equity; weighted, 8.1%.

Use 8.1%
Equity value $321.95b ▼ below market cap $485.51b
Base case value per share $724.38 equity value ÷ 444.45m shares
Current price $1,092.38 market price per share
Below today’s price 33.7% downside at the base case’s assumptions

How we got there$112.50b 10 years of cash to equity+$194.31b terminal value+$15.14b net cash=$321.95b equity value÷444.45m shares=$724.38 per share

Valuation against its own history

Today’s multiple against its 5- and 10-year averages and the industry median (Discount Stores).

Multiple Current 5Y avg 10Y avg vs 10Y avg Industry median vs industry 10Y range
P/E 52.57× 48.30× 42.70× 23% above 22.54× 133% above
P/FCF 51.69× 50.27× 54.23× 5% below 31.79× 63% above
P/B 13.55× 13.16× 11.24× 20% above 6.41× 111% above
EV/EBITDA 32.72× 29.80× 25.25× 30% above 13.30× 146% above
EV/Sales 1.55× 1.37× 1.13× 38% above 1.12× 38% above
35.58×72.68×109.79×146.90×10Y avg 54.23×2018201920202021202220232024202520262026

COST trades at 51.69× P/FCF, against a 10-year average of 54.23× (range 25.41×–157.57×). That is dearer than 67% of the last 9 year-end readings; re-rating to the average implies $1,146.10 per share.

Every growth rate on this page is the business’s — its cash flow, FFO or dividend — never its share price’s. A discounted-cash-flow model is only as good as its assumptions. Figures from the 10-K and 10-Q filings. Not investment advice.