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Costco Wholesale Corporation COST

Costco Wholesale Corporation scores good on business quality (6.6 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$946.92Oct 10, 2026
Business qualityGood
Next earningsDec 10, 2026
Insiders, 90 daysSelling

Why it matters

  1. What Costco Wholesale Corporation does

    Costco makes money by running a membership-only warehouse club model, collecting annual fees from millions of households in exchange for bulk goods priced near cost. Members pay upfront for the privilege to shop, locking in predictable high-margin fee streams that insulate retail operations. Digital sales initiatives are expanding online options to capture younger shoppers and drive incremental delivery volume.

  2. What it does best

    Costco extracts maximum pricing leverage through sheer scale, posting a revenue growth rate of 10.1% while maintaining a lean 12.8% gross margin. This relentless focus on passing savings to members builds fierce loyalty that peers like WMT cannot easily copy.

  3. The main risk

    Rich valuation multiples leave zero room for execution errors if digital sales expansion falters or consumer spending cools. Trading well above its intrinsic value of $505.20, any stumble in membership renewal rates will compress the premium price.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityWeak

Operating margins sit thin at 3.9% with a gross margin of 12.8%, ranking in the bottom quartile of its sector. Profitability relies strictly on massive volume rather than high markups.

MoatStrong

Scale and member loyalty lock in consumers through high renewal rates, backed by a top-decile return on equity of 28.0%. Rivals cannot replicate this membership flywheel within years.

GrowthSteady

Revenue growth hit 10.1%, landing in the top decile of its sector at the 81st percentile. This top-line expansion is accelerating compared to prior fiscal years.

Financial healthStrong

Net cash of $15.1 billion provides a fortress balance sheet with total debt standing at just $6.2 billion. Free cash flow climbed to $9.4 billion, proving the cash generation machine is getting stronger.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

2 sold $2.7M outside pre-planned sales.

Our sealed record on COST

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is COST a good business?

Costco Wholesale Corporation scores good on the Cluenex quality check (6.6 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat strong, growth steady and financial health strong.

Are insiders buying COST?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 2 sold $2.7M outside pre-planned sales.

When does COST report earnings?

Dec 10, 2026.

For members

See COST today

  • Today's verdict on COST, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/cost/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.