Bringing the fundamentals into focus…
Back to Costco Wholesale Corporation
How Costco Wholesale Corporation stacks up
COST · against 820 other Consumer Defensive companies
Profitability
90/ 100
Near the top of its peers.
Ranked #79 of 821 · scores higher than 90% of peers
Bars: peers in each 10-point band of the profitability score87 peers with a profitability score of 90–100, including COST · Click a bar to see the companies
Why profitability scores 90?
Weighted metrics compared with all Consumer Defensive companies.Mainly thanks to its return on invested capital and return on assets, which are stronger than most Consumer Defensive peers.
- a thinner operating margin: weaker than 71% of peers. Operating margin: 3.8% vs peer median 7.6%
- a higher return on assets: stronger than 90% of peers. Return on assets: 10.2% vs peer median 3.9%
- a higher return on invested capital: stronger than 95% of peers. Return on invested capital: 43.8% vs peer median 7.6%
Metric by metric
Position: dot = COST, ranked from the worst peer (left) to the best (right); tick = middle, shaded = middle half of peers.| Metric | COST | Peer median | Better than | Position among peers | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return on invested capitalHigher is better · 759 reported | 43.8% | 7.6% | 95% | 33% | |
| Operating marginHigher is better · 815 reported | 3.8% | 7.6% | 29% | 33% | |
| Return on assetsHigher is better · 782 reported | 10.2% | 3.9% | 90% | 33% | |
| Return on equityHigher is better · 769 reported | 28.4% | 8.3% | 93% | Context only | |
| Gross marginHigher is better · 824 reported | 12.8% | 32.0% | 13% | Context only |
Ranking by profitability score
Top 5 and the companies ranked around COST| Rank | Company | Market cap | Profitability | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 478.0B INR (≈$5.7B) | 100 | 56 | |
| 1 | 235.4B INR (≈$2.8B) | 100 | 68 | |
| 1 | 224.7B INR (≈$2.7B) | 100 | 70 | |
| 4 | 390.1B JPY (≈$2.7B) | 99 | 70 | |
| 4 | 3.9B MYR (≈$864M) | 99 | 72 | |
| 79 | 4.4B CNY (≈$611M) | 90 |
Scores are sector-relative percentiles from the latest snapshot, always calculated against the whole sector: narrowing the comparison group changes who you compare with, not the scores. Missing metrics are left out and the remaining weights rescaled. How we score