Retail-Variety Stores · SIC 5331

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW

COST

Watch

Latest revenue

$69.60B

as of 2026-02-15

Latest net income

$2.04B

as of 2026-02-15

Net margin

2.9%

as of 2026-02-15

Price · 5Y

+23.5% / yr 9.8 pts / yr vs S&P 500 186.8% total
Compare:

Live market

delayed ≤15 min
$1028.24
2.11%
Market cap
$456.18B
Enterprise value
$445.56B
P/E (trailing)
42.2×
Forward P/E
P/B
14.22×
Dividend yield
0.5%
52-wk high
$1096.50
52-wk low
$844.06
Beta
Shares out
443.7M

5-year trend

What this company does

AI

Costco runs a global chain of 924 membership-only warehouse clubs that sell a tightly curated mix of branded and private-label goods at thin markups to drive volume and inventory turnover. Merchandise sales generate the bulk of revenue ($134.2B over 24 weeks), but the high-margin membership fees ($2.7B) are the real profit engine, and both grew roughly 9% and 14% year-over-year. With operating income up 12% and cash climbing to $17.4B, Costco's model continues compounding while it expands cautiously abroad and recently raised its dividend.

Generated from COST's filing dated 2025-10-08

Key risks

AI
  • Margin compression risk: merchandise costs grew 8.9% YoY to $60.7B while net sales grew 9.1%, leaving gross margin gains thin amid tariff exposure.
  • International FX exposure: 290 of 924 warehouses are outside the US; accumulated translation losses sit at $1.6B and swung $370M in one quarter.
  • Rich valuation vulnerability: shares trade at premium multiples while diluted EPS grew only 13.9% ($4.58 vs $4.02), leaving little room for execution missteps.

Generated from COST's filing dated 2025-10-08

Profitability

Operating margin

3.8%

3.4%

Net margin

3.9%

2.7%

Return on equity

37.1%

10.0%

Return on assets

14.0%

0.6%

Leverage

Debt / equity

1.64×

16.0%

Long-term debt / equity

0.20×

20.1%

Debt / assets

62.2%

6.0%

Earnings tracker

QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYNet margin

Q1 2026

2026-02-15

$69.60B+9.2%$2.04B+13.8%2.9%

Q4 2025

2025-11-23

$67.31B+8.3%$2.00B+11.3%3.0%

Q3 2025

2025-08-31

$86.16B+8.1%$5.33B+12.7%6.2%

Q2 2025

2025-05-11

$63.20B+8.0%$1.90B+13.2%3.0%

Q1 2025

2025-02-16

$63.72B+9.0%$1.79B+2.6%2.8%

Q4 2024

2024-11-24

$62.15B+7.5%$1.80B+13.2%2.9%

Q3 2024

2024-09-01

$79.70B$4.73B5.9%

Q2 2024

2024-05-12

$58.52B$1.68B2.9%

Year-over-year change vs the same fiscal quarter one year prior. Revenue + net income sourced from SEC 10-Q / 10-K filings — no analyst-consensus dependency.

Industry trend

Retail-Variety Stores · SIC 5331

No data yet for industry average

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Insider activity

Insider buying

$0

Insider selling

$28.2M

Net activity

−$28.2M

Distinct insiders

12

Open-market trades over the last 365 days.

Recent transactions

DateInsiderTypeSharesPriceValue
2026-04-01

Caton Frates

Executive Vice President

Sale700$993.00$695.1K
2026-03-09

Claudine Adamo

Executive Vice President

Sale730$1003.02$732.2K
2026-01-21

Teresa A. Jones

Executive Vice President

Sale850$986.26$838.3K
2026-01-16

Susan L Decker

Director

Sale458$955.00$437.4K
2026-01-14

James C Klauer

Executive Vice President

Sale1,500$939.00$1.4M
2026-01-09

Russell D Miller

Sr. Executive Vice President

Sale1,500$916.32$1.4M
2025-12-30

Javier Polit

Executive Vice President

Sale558$862.89$481.8K
2025-12-29

Javier Polit

Executive Vice President

Sale2,049$867.21$1.8M
2025-11-07

William Richard Wilcox

Executive Vice President

Sale2,400$930.13$2.2M
2025-10-24

Tiffany Marie Barbre

Sale1,239$934.62$1.2M
2025-10-24

Claudine Adamo

Executive Vice President

Sale2,700$935.68$2.5M

Source: SEC Form 4 filings. Officers, directors, and 10%+ owners must disclose share transactions within two business days. RSU grants and tax-withholding rows are excluded by default — compensation activity is not a trading signal.

Who owns COST

No institutional holdings on file for COST yet.

Source: SEC Form 13F-HR. Updated quarterly (45-day filing lag).

Top questions investors are asking

AI
  1. 1

    Merchandise costs grew 8.9% versus net sales 9.1% in Q2—why isn't the recent membership fee increase driving more visible gross margin leverage?

  2. 2

    SG&A rose 10.8% to $6.27B, outpacing sales growth; what specific wage, e-commerce, or tech investments are pressuring this and when does it normalize?

  3. 3

    With $17.4B cash on hand and only $420M in buybacks YTD versus a $1.15B dividend, why no special dividend or accelerated repurchase given the stock multiple?

Refreshed when COST files a new report · last from 2025-10-08