COST vs WMT
Costco Wholesale and Walmart, side by side.
Prices and company dataas of yesterday's close
- COSTBuy moresales growth, past year10%
Three more analysts rate Costco Wholesale a buy than three months ago, and its sales grew 10% over the past year.
- WMTSell somesales growth, past year6.2%
Walmart's sales grew 6.2% over the past year, but the stock rose 13% over the past month, in step with other food, drink and household stocks (up 11%).
Percent return
- COST+19.71%
- WMT+22.51%
Nov 11, 2025 to Nov 11, 2026
Where they differ
- Company size: COST $432B, WMT $909B.
- Sales growth, 1 yr: COST +10%, WMT +6.2%. COST is ahead.
- Price for $1 of next year's profit: COST $46, WMT $42. WMT is ahead.
- Profit per $1 of sales: COST 4¢, WMT 4¢.
- Cash minus debt: COST +$11.1B, WMT −$63.6B. COST is ahead.
- Price change, 1 yr: COST +20%, WMT +23%. WMT is ahead. S&P 500 +12%.
- How much the price swings: COST 21%, WMT 28%. COST is ahead.
| Measure | COSTCostco Wholesale | WMTWalmart |
|---|---|---|
| Price and returns | ||
| Price | $1,087.52 | $125.71 |
| Today | Best in this row: +2.01% | +0.13% |
| 1 month | Best in this row: +15.03% | +12.86% |
| 3 months | Best in this row: +15.33% | +11.26% |
| This year | Best in this row: +26.87% | +13.52% |
| 1 year | +19.71% | Best in this row: +22.51% |
| 5 years | +124.04% | Best in this row: +170.26% |
| From 52-week high | −0.3% | −6.1% |
| How much it swings (90 days) | Best in this row: 21% | 28% |
| Valuation | ||
| Market value | $432B | $909B |
| Price vs last year's earnings | 48.9× | Best in this row: 40.2× |
| Price vs next year's expected earnings | 46.1× | Best in this row: 41.8× |
| Price vs earnings, adjusted for growth | 3.77× | Best in this row: 3.05× |
| Price to sales | 1.5× | Best in this row: 1.4× |
| Price vs cash it brings in | Best in this row: 49.8× | 73.7× |
| Company value vs operating profit | 32.1× | Best in this row: 24.0× |
| Price vs earnings, against its own past (0 = cheapest) | 33 | Best in this row: 11 |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth, 1 year | Best in this row: +10.1% | +6.2% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 3 years | Best in this row: +7.8% | +5.3% |
| Earnings per share growth, last year | +12.7% | Best in this row: +21.7% |
| Earnings per share growth expected next year | +9.9% | Best in this row: +11.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Kept from sales after making the product | 12.8% | Best in this row: 24.8% |
| Kept as operating profit | 3.8% | Best in this row: 3.9% |
| Kept as final profit | Best in this row: 3.0% | 3.0% |
| Kept as spare cash | Best in this row: 3.1% | 1.8% |
| Profit on shareholders' money | Best in this row: 28.4% | 22.3% |
| Profit on all money put in | Best in this row: 37.3% | 13.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | Best in this row: $11.1B | −$63.6B |
| Debt for each $1 of shareholders' money | Best in this row: 0.28× | 0.72× |
| Short-term assets per $1 of bills due | Best in this row: 1.06× | 0.77× |
| Dividend yield | 0.56% | Best in this row: 0.79% |
| Share of profit paid as dividends | Best in this row: 28% | 36% |
| Our readPro | ||
| Our call | Buy more | Sell some |
| Why | Three more analysts rate Costco Wholesale a buy than three months ago, and its sales grew 10% over the past year. | Walmart's sales grew 6.2% over the past year, but the stock rose 13% over the past month, in step with other food, drink and household stocks (up 11%). |
| Where the price sits | in the full report | in the full report |
| Our overall score (out of 100) | Best in this row: 56 | 56 |
| Our value score | 28 | Best in this row: 30 |
| Our growth score | 61 | Best in this row: 65 |
| Our quality score | Best in this row: 73 | 63 |
| Our price trend score | Best in this row: 60 | 59 |
| Earnings and analysts | ||
| Next earnings | Dec 10in 28 days | Nov 19BMOin 7 days |
| Analyst consensus | Buy | Buy |
| To average analyst target | +1.1% | Best in this row: +2.8% |
| Average analyst target | $1,099.88 | $129.19 |
| Analysts rating it a buy | 63% | Best in this row: 88% |
| Buy ratings added, 3 months | Best in this row: +3 | +1 |
| Analysts covering | 26 | 31 |
COST: our only Buy more, with faster sales growth
Our pick of these: Costco Wholesale
Sales growth +10.1% vs +6.2%
COST +10.1%, WMT +6.2%.Forward P/E per point of sales growth 4.55 vs 6.78
COST 4.55, WMT 6.78.Price swings less: 21% a year vs 28%
COST 21%, WMT 28%.Where it loses: WMT has more analysts rating it a buy, 88% vs 63%
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Prices as of yesterday, 3:59 PM ET. A view, not advice.