Costco (COST)
Consumer Staples · Warehouse club retail
A membership-based warehouse retailer that sells bulk groceries, household goods, and discretionary items to individual and business members at deeply discounted prices.
What Costco does
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a chain of membership warehouses that sell a wide variety of merchandise, including groceries, household goods, electronics, apparel, and other consumables at low prices to members who pay annual membership fees. The company generates revenue primarily from net sales of merchandise and recurring membership fee income. Costco operates primarily in the United States but also maintains international warehouses. The business model emphasizes high volume, rapid inventory turnover, and membership loyalty to drive profitability despite thin merchandise margins.
Themes: ["Value retail / discount bulk purchasing","Membership-based business model","Private label brands","High-volume, low-margin retail","Recurring membership revenue"]
Fundamentals
- Price$912.97 as of 2026-07-09 close
- Market cap$407.8B as of 2026-07-10
- 1-year return-7.0% as of 2026-07-09 close
- P/E46.14 as of 2026-07-10
- Net margin+3.0% as of 2026-07-10
- Gross margin+12.9% as of 2026-07-10
- ROE+28.3% as of 2026-07-10
- Debt / equity0.17 as of 2026-07-10
- Revenue growth (YoY)+9.2% as of 2026-07-10
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+6.6% SEC XBRL
- Beta0.87 as of 2026-07-10
Dividend: yield +0.6%; 1-year non-decreasing per-share dividend streak (SEC XBRL).
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Membership dependence: Revenue is substantially tied to member acquisition, retention, and renewal rates; loss of members or reduced renewal rates could materially impact revenues and profitability.","Thin operating margins: The company operates on thin merchandise margins and relies on high volume and membership fees for profitability, making it vulnerable to competitive pricing pressures and cost inflation.","International and foreign exchange exposure: International operations and foreign-currency translation adjustments create earnings volatility and operational complexity across multiple markets."]
Competitors & peers
Fundamentals: Finnhub, as of 2026-07-10. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-07-09.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & Finnhub, shown with their as-of date.