Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Valuation

Valuation

Model-based estimates, not advice. The DCF is the discounted-cash-flow value per share; compare it with the price, not as a target.

DCF fair value

-72.6%

$284.67

vs $1,039.34 price

Levered DCF

$410.42

After debt service

Piotroski score

7 / 9

Strong

Altman Z-score

9.52

Safe zone

Rating

Overall 3 / 5

Ratios by fiscal year

Margins and yields are shares of revenue, equity or price; multiples are ×.

Metric	FY2026	FY2025	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022	FY2021	FY2020	FY2019
P/E	45.42×	51.72×	53.76×	38.38×	40.32×	40.35×	38.42×	35.43×
P/B	11.7×	14.36×	16.77×	9.64×	11.41×	11.5×	8.41×	8.5×
P/S	1.38×	1.52×	1.56×	1×	1.04×	1.03×	0.92×	0.85×
EV / EBITDA	28.37×	30.97×	32.62×	22.23×	23.87×	23.42×	21.27×	19.99×
Gross margin	12.8%	12.8%	12.6%	12.3%	12.1%	12.9%	13.1%	13.0%
Operating margin	3.9%	3.8%	3.6%	3.3%	3.4%	3.4%	3.3%	3.1%
Net margin	3.0%	2.9%	2.9%	2.6%	2.6%	2.6%	2.4%	2.4%
Current ratio	1.06×	1.03×	0.97×	1.07×	1.02×	1×	1.13×	1.01×
Debt / equity	0.24×	0.35×	0.42×	0.42×	0.53×	0.65×	0.61×	0.45×
Interest coverage	80.59×	67.42×	54.94×	50.71×	49.32×	39.23×	33.97×	31.58×
Dividend yield	0.6%	0.5%	2.3%	0.5%	0.6%	2.8%	1.0%	0.8%
Payout ratio	26.6%	27.0%	122.7%	19.9%	25.6%	114.8%	37.0%	28.4%

Key metrics by fiscal year

Metric	FY2026	FY2025	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022	FY2021	FY2020	FY2019
Return on equity	25.8%	27.8%	31.2%	25.1%	28.3%	28.5%	21.9%	24.0%
Return on invested capital	18.6%	19.1%	20.2%	16.3%	18.0%	16.5%	13.2%	15.4%
Return on assets	10.4%	10.5%	10.5%	9.1%	9.1%	8.4%	7.2%	8.1%
Free cash flow yield	2.2%	1.9%	1.7%	2.8%	1.5%	2.7%	3.9%	2.6%
Earnings yield	2.2%	1.9%	1.9%	2.6%	2.5%	2.5%	2.6%	2.8%
Enterprise value	$407.4B	$414.9B	$396.2B	$238.4B	$236.3B	$202.2B	$152.6B	$128.1B
Net debt / EBITDA	-0.81×	-0.29×	0×	-0.3×	0.07×	0.02×	-0.17×	-0.24×
Cash conversion cycle (days)	0	2	3	2	4	-1	-1	3