analyzeportfolio
Nasdaq · Consumer Staples

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST)

As-reported financials and SEC filings for Costco Wholesale Corp. The latest annual period is FY2026. The latest reported quarter is Q4 FY2026. Financial statements come straight from the company’s EDGAR filings; valuation figures such as P/E and market cap use market data.

About Costco Wholesale Corp.

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates membership warehouses and e-commerce sites in multiple countries, offering a limited selection of nationally-branded and private-label products at low prices. Its product categories include foods, non-foods, fresh foods, and ancillary services such as gasoline, pharmacy, and optical. Costco serves individual and business members who pay annual fees for access to its warehouses and online shopping platforms.

Snapshot

Revenue
$303.15B
Revenue growth (YoY)
10.1%
Net income
$9.23B
Diluted EPS
$20.76
Gross margin
12.8%
Operating margin
3.9%
Net margin
3.0%
FCF margin
3.1%
ROE
25.8%
net income / fiscal-year-end equity
P/E
48.3×
trailing when available, otherwise FY EPS
Market cap
$444.60B
Long-term debt / equity
0.11×
non-current term debt only

Fundamentals are from SEC filings for FY2026, the latest annual period (ended August 30, 2026). P/E and market cap are derived from stored market prices, last retrieved on a rolling basis and typically within the past week.

What changed at Costco Wholesale

  • Revenue grew 10.1% to $303.2B in FY2026, in line with the 8.2% the year before.
  • Operating margin is 3.9% in FY2026, +0.4 pp against 3.4% in FY2022.
  • Most recent quarter Q4 FY2026: revenue $95.7B, up 11.1% from Q4 FY2025.
  • Free cash flow was $9.4B in FY2026, 3.1% of revenue.
  • Net income rose 13.9% to $9.2B in FY2026.

Computed from the as-reported figures in the statements below. A change we cannot state from filed figures is left out rather than estimated.

Peer comparison

Where Costco Wholesale’s fundamentals sit among the 131 Consumer Staples companies. Each figure is ranked only against peers that report it, from lowest (left) to highest (right).

Gross margin12.8%
12th percentile of 113
Operating margin3.9%
46th percentile of 117
Net margin3.0%
52nd percentile of 121
FCF margin3.1%
47th percentile of 114
Revenue growth (YoY)+10.1%
71st percentile of 127
ROE25.8%
88th percentile of 114
P/E48.3×
88th percentile of 77
Long-term debt / equity0.11×
19th percentile of 82
Short interest2.74d
35th percentile of 128

Costco Wholesale’s gross margin of 12.8% ranks in the 12th percentile of the 113 Consumer Staples companies reporting it. Costco Wholesale’s return on equity of 25.8% ranks in the 88th percentile of the 114 Consumer Staples companies reporting it. Costco Wholesale’s P/E of 48.3 ranks in the 88th percentile of the 77 peers with a meaningful P/E.

No reported insider purchases (code P) in the last 90 days; 3 insider sales totaling $3.8M. For context, about 15% of companies in the universe saw any reported insider purchase (code P) in the same window. Browse insider activity →

Percentiles describe where a figure sits among sector peers reporting it (100th = highest). They are position within a peer group, not a rating, and not investment advice. Short interest ranking uses days to cover from FINRA Consolidated Short Interest data; FINRA is the owner and source of that data, included at no additional charge.

Institutional ownership

Held by 4 of the superinvestors we track (plus 5 quant / multi-strat books), based on each investor’s most recent 13F; periods vary by investor (newest: Q2 2026).

Conviction investors
4
+5 quant / multi-strat
Initiated / added
4
0 new, 4 added
Reduced / exited
6
4 trimmed, 2 exited
Combined position
$3.85B
reported long value
InvestorAs ofPosition valueSharesChange
AQR Capital ManagementquantQ2 2026$1.17B1.3MAdded
Two Sigma InvestmentsquantQ2 2026$941.3M1.0MAdded
D. E. ShawquantQ2 2026$817.0M873.3KReduced
Citadel AdvisorsquantQ2 2026$476.8M509.7KReduced
Millennium ManagementquantQ2 2026$356.2M380.7KAdded
Markel GroupQ2 2026$36.6M39.1KHeld
Bridgewater AssociatesQ2 2026$24.8M26.5KReduced
Gotham Asset ManagementQ2 2026$22.6M24.1KAdded
Harris Associates (Oakmark)Q2 2026$334,898358Reduced

No longer held by: Point72 Asset Management (as of Q2 2026), Renaissance Technologies (as of Q2 2026)

From quarterly Form 13F filings, which can be up to 45 days delayed. Long US-listed positions only: excludes short positions, options, cash, bonds, and non-US holdings, so this is not a manager’s complete portfolio. Counts are of the investors we track, not all institutions. Not investment advice.

Recent insider activity

Non-derivative buys and sells (codes P/S) reported by officers, directors and 10% owners on SEC Form 4.

Buys (90d)
0
code P
Bought (90d)
—
code P value
Sells (90d)
3
$3.8M
Reported activity
Net selling
by $ value, 90d
Trade dateInsiderTypeSharesPriceValue
2026-10-13
filed 2026-10-14
William Richard WilcoxExecutive Vice PresidentSell1.1K$958.21$1.1M
2026-09-29
filed 2026-09-30
Claudine AdamoExecutive Vice PresidentSell2.2K$915.93$2.0M
2026-09-29
filed 2026-09-30
Caton FratesSr. Executive Vice PresidentSell801$915.93$733K
2026-06-23
filed 2026-06-25
Kenneth D. DenmanDirectorSell885$957.45$847K

Reported non-derivative purchases and sales (codes P/S), which may be open-market or private. Excludes option exercises, grants, and shares withheld for taxes. Dates shown are the trade date; a Form 4 can be filed days to years later. A sale can be routine (e.g. a pre-set 10b5-1 plan), so read individual transactions in context. From SEC Form 4. Not investment advice.

Short interest

Total shares sold short as of each twice-monthly FINRA settlement. Rising short interest means more investors are positioned against the stock; days to cover estimates how many trading days of average volume that position represents.

Shares short
7.3M
settled 2026-09-30
Change vs prior
-0.5%
vs previous settlement
Days to cover
2.74
at avg daily volume
Avg daily volume
2.7M
FINRA reported
SettlementShares shortChangeDays to cover
2026-09-307.3M-0.5%2.74
2026-09-157.4M-2.9%3.67
2026-08-317.6M+2.9%4.09
2026-08-147.4M-3.8%4.38
2026-07-317.7M+10.0%3.75
2026-07-157.0M-4.5%2.75
2026-06-307.3M-7.1%2.44
2026-06-157.8M-0.5%3.61

Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data, which is included at no additional charge for your own personal or professional use; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Settlement dates are shown; FINRA publishes each settlement about nine business days later, so the latest figure can be two to four weeks old. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied. Not investment advice.

Income statement (as reported)

 FY2026FY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022
Revenue$303.15B$275.24B$254.45B$242.29B$226.95B
Gross profit
Operating income$11.69B$10.38B$9.29B$8.11B$7.79B
Pre-tax income$12.25B$10.82B$9.74B$8.49B$7.84B
Net income$9.23B$8.10B$7.37B$6.29B$5.84B
Diluted EPS$20.76$18.21$16.56$14.16$13.14

Figures as reported to the SEC. Underlined values link to the filing they came from; dotted values are calculated by us from reported figures (free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, which can differ from a company’s own definition); “adj” means restated for a stock split (tap or hover a figure to see how it was calculated or what was filed). Diluted EPS includes discontinued operations where a company reports them. Cash & Equivalents excludes short-term investments and may include restricted cash where that is the figure the company tags. Full details: where the numbers come from.

Balance sheet (as reported)

Figures as reported to the SEC. Underlined values link to the filing they came from; dotted values are calculated by us from reported figures (free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, which can differ from a company’s own definition); “adj” means restated for a stock split (tap or hover a figure to see how it was calculated or what was filed). Diluted EPS includes discontinued operations where a company reports them. Cash & Equivalents excludes short-term investments and may include restricted cash where that is the figure the company tags. Full details: where the numbers come from.

Cash flow (as reported)

 FY2026FY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022
Operating cash flow$15.82B$13.34B$11.34B$11.07B$7.39B
Capital expenditure$6.43B$5.50B$4.71B$4.32B$3.89B
Free cash flow

Figures as reported to the SEC. Underlined values link to the filing they came from; dotted values are calculated by us from reported figures (free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, which can differ from a company’s own definition); “adj” means restated for a stock split (tap or hover a figure to see how it was calculated or what was filed). Diluted EPS includes discontinued operations where a company reports them. Cash & Equivalents excludes short-term investments and may include restricted cash where that is the figure the company tags. Full details: where the numbers come from.

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueRevenue YoYNet incomeDiluted EPS
Q4 FY202611.1%
Q3 FY2026$70.53B11.6%$2.19B$4.93
Q2 FY2026$69.60B9.2%$2.04B$4.58
Q1 FY2026$67.31B8.3%$2.00B$4.50
Q4 FY20258.1%
Q3 FY2025$63.20B8.0%$1.90B$4.28
Q2 FY2025$63.72B9.0%$1.79B$4.02
Q1 FY2025$62.15B7.5%$1.80B$4.04

Latest 8 quarters, from company XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. A dotted underline marks a fourth-quarter figure we calculated from the full year and the first nine months. Revenue YoY is our calculation too: each quarter against the same quarter a year earlier.

Company facts

ExchangeNasdaq
SectorConsumer Staples
SIC industryRetail-Variety Stores
Latest annual periodFY2026 (ended August 30, 2026)
Latest reported quarterQ4 FY2026 (ended August 30, 2026)
Oldest indexed filing2016
SEC CIK909832

Selected SEC filings

10-K2026-10-07
View on EDGAR →
10-K2025-10-08
View on EDGAR →
10-Q2026-06-03
View on EDGAR →
10-Q2026-03-11
View on EDGAR →
10-Q2025-12-17
View on EDGAR →
10-Q2025-06-05
View on EDGAR →
8-K2026-10-16
View on EDGAR →
8-K2026-10-14
View on EDGAR →

Largest Consumer Staples peers

All Consumer Staples companies →

COST head to head

Monitor COST

Get an alert when Costco Wholesale files something material, see which superinvestors own it, and ask its filings a question with cited answers.

Monitor COST free

Includes one free filing-grounded research answer. Or check your whole portfolio, no account needed.

Data sourced from SEC EDGAR. Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filing before relying on them. Informational only. Not investment advice.