Costco Wholesale
COST on Nasdaq. Costco sells groceries, electronics, and household goods to paying members. Market value $409.6bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to May 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to August 2025.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
See cheaper Everyday goods stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $2.12 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 35.8 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 36 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 84 of 100. Price score: 23 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$935.68 a share, 11% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $844.06 to $1,096.50.
Dividend: 0.5% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $195.9bn | $227.0bn | $242.3bn | $254.5bn | $275.2bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.49 | 0.32 | 0.26 | 0.31 | 0.25 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.44bn | 0.44bn | 0.44bn | 0.44bn | 0.44bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)7 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.25× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 10.5% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to May 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $70.5 billion last quarter, up 12% on a year ago.
- Profit: $2.2 billion, up 15% on a year ago.
- It keeps 4 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, about the same as a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $8.8 billion, up from $7.3 billion.
- About the same number of shares as a year ago.
- It has $13.3 billion more cash than debt, up from $7.9 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| August 2024 | $79.7bn |
| November 2024 | $62.2bn |
| February 2025 | $63.7bn |
| May 2025 | $63.2bn |
| August 2025 | $86.2bn |
| November 2025 | $67.3bn |
| February 2026 | $69.6bn |
| May 2026 | $70.5bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| August 2024 | $2.4bn |
| November 2024 | $1.8bn |
| February 2025 | $1.8bn |
| May 2025 | $1.9bn |
| August 2025 | $2.6bn |
| November 2025 | $2.0bn |
| February 2026 | $2.0bn |
| May 2026 | $2.2bn |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 10 December 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 8 October 2025
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 2 September 2026
Who owns it
16 long-term investors we follow own it, down from 18 last quarter. 4,233 funds in all.
- Markel GroupTom Gayner
- Value
- $37m
- Share of fund
- 0.3%
- Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier
- Value
- $6m
- Share of fund
- 0.8%
- Semper AugustusChristopher Bloomstran
- Value
- $3m
- Share of fund
- 0.4%
- Mairs & PowerAndy Adams
- Value
- $3m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Aristotle Capital ManagementHoward Gleicher
- Value
- $1m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Torray Investment PartnersRobert Torray (founder)
- Value
- $587,475
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Matrix Asset AdvisorsDavid Katz
- Value
- $515,137
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Boston PartnersBoston Partners team
- Value
- $343,291
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Harris Associates (Oakmark)Bill Nygren
- Value
- $334,898
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosking PartnersJeremy Hosking | $55m | 1.8% | Cut |
| Markel GroupTom Gayner | $37m | 0.3% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $23m | <0.1% | Added |
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $19m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier | $6m | 0.8% | |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $5m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Gardner Russo & QuinnTom Russo | $3m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Semper AugustusChristopher Bloomstran | $3m | 0.4% | |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $3m | <0.1% | |
| Beutel GoodmanBeutel Goodman team | $3m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Aristotle Capital ManagementHoward Gleicher | $1m | <0.1% | |
| Torray Investment PartnersRobert Torray (founder) | $587,475 | <0.1% | |
| Matrix Asset AdvisorsDavid Katz | $515,137 | <0.1% | |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $343,291 | <0.1% | |
| Harris Associates (Oakmark)Bill Nygren | $334,898 | <0.1% | |
| GMOJeremy Grantham | $217,029 | <0.1% | Added |
Sold out this quarter
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$32.0bnCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$27.1bn
- State Street$17.2bn
- Invesco$13.1bnAdded
- Geode Capital Management$9.9bn
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$9.7bnCut
- Morgan Stanley$9.6bnAdded
- Banque Cantonale Vaudoise$7.0bnAdded
- Bank of America$6.8bnCut
- Norges Bank$6.1bnNew
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
1 investor owns more than 5%.
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.5%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 9 sold $16m.
- Frates CatonSr. Executive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 29 September 2026
- Shares
- 801
- Price
- $915.93
- Value
- $733,328
- Adamo ClaudineExecutive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 29 September 2026
- Shares
- 2,200
- Price
- $915.93
- Value
- $2m
- DENMAN KENNETH DDirectorSold
- Date
- 23 June 2026
- Shares
- 885
- Price
- $957.45
- Value
- $847,343
- Frates CatonExecutive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 1 April 2026
- Shares
- 700
- Price
- $993.00
- Value
- $695,100
- Adamo ClaudineExecutive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Shares
- 730
- Price
- $1003.02
- Value
- $732,205
- Jones Teresa A.Executive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 21 January 2026
- Shares
- 850
- Price
- $986.26
- Value
- $838,321
- DECKER SUSAN LDirectorSold
- Date
- 16 January 2026
- Shares
- 458
- Price
- $955.00
- Value
- $437,390
- Klauer James CExecutive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 14 January 2026
- Shares
- 1,500
- Price
- $939.00
- Value
- $1m
- Miller Russell DSr. Executive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 9 January 2026
- Shares
- 1,500
- Price
- $916.32
- Value
- $1m
- POLIT JAVIERExecutive Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 30 December 2025
- Shares
- 558
- Price
- $862.90
- Value
- $481,766
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 2026 | Frates Caton Sr. Executive Vice President | Sold | 801 | $915.93 | $733,328 |
| 29 September 2026 | Adamo Claudine Executive Vice President | Sold | 2,200 | $915.93 | $2m |
| 23 June 2026 | DENMAN KENNETH D Director | Sold | 885 | $957.45 | $847,343 |
| 1 April 2026 | Frates Caton Executive Vice President | Sold | 700 | $993.00 | $695,100 |
| 9 March 2026 | Adamo Claudine Executive Vice President | Sold | 730 | $1003.02 | $732,205 |
| 21 January 2026 | Jones Teresa A. Executive Vice President | Sold | 850 | $986.26 | $838,321 |
| 16 January 2026 | DECKER SUSAN L Director | Sold | 458 | $955.00 | $437,390 |
| 14 January 2026 | Klauer James C Executive Vice President | Sold | 1,500 | $939.00 | $1m |
| 9 January 2026 | Miller Russell D Sr. Executive Vice President | Sold | 1,500 | $916.32 | $1m |
| 30 December 2025 | POLIT JAVIER Executive Vice President | Sold | 558 | $862.90 | $481,766 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 8 Oct 2025, plus the 10-Q filed 3 Jun 2026 and 9 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 35.8× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.