Costco vs Walmart COST vs WMT
Costco and Walmart on one sheet: valuation multiples, growth, margins, debt, dividends and returns, each section labelled with the period it covers, from the companies' filings. Add or remove a stock above the sheet; the link holds the set.
What differs most
- Debt / equity: Walmart 0.8×, Costco 0.2×.
- Market value: Walmart $957.28B, Costco $445.42B.
- EV / EBITDA: Costco 30.2×, Walmart 21.8×.
- Free-cash-flow yield: Costco 2.1%, Walmart 1.6%.
Price return
2025-10-26 → 2026-10-26
COST+7.8%
WMT+13.3%
Profile
latestSector
Consumer Defensive
Consumer Defensive
Industry
Discount Stores
Discount Stores
Market value
$445.42B
$957.28B
Enterprise value
$433.78B
$1.02T
Employees
355,000
2,100,000
Revenue per employee (TTM)
$854K
$350K
Our models
nightlythe valuation on each stock's pagePrice vs model
142% overvalued vs model
130% overvalued vs model
Model range
$291–813
$30.70–150
Models in the headline
1
1
FCF growth priced in, at a 10% return
25.2%
32.9%
Every model, its assumptions and its range: COST valuation · WMT valuation. The growth priced in, at any return: COST reverse DCF · WMT reverse DCF.
Trading
close 2026-10-26Last close
$1005.16
$120.29
52-week high
$1094.32
$134.20
52-week low
$850.00
$100.61
Price vs 52-week high
−8.1%
−10.4%
Price vs 52-week low
+18.3%
+19.6%
Average daily volume / shares
0.5%
0.3%
Beta
0.87
0.58
Returns
to 2026-10-261 month
+8.9%
+11.4%
3 months
+7.5%
+9.9%
6 months
−0.6%
−7.4%
Year to date
+16.6%
+8.0%
1 year
+7.8%
+13.3%
1 year, dividends added
+8.4%
+14.2%
2 years
+12.8%
+45.8%
Valuation
COST price × FY2026 · WMT price × TTM to Jul 2026P/E (TTM)
48.4×
43.6×
P/E on consensus EPS (next FY)
49.0×
41.6×
Price / sales
1.5×
1.3×
EV / sales
1.4×
1.4×
EV / EBITDA
30.2×
21.8×
Price / book
12.4×
9.7×
Price / free cash flow (FY)
47.4×
64.1×
Free-cash-flow yield (FY)
2.1%
1.6%
Growth
TTM and FY2026Revenue growth (TTM)
+3.3%
—
Revenue growth, consensus next FY
−0.3%
+5.5%
Revenue, 3-year CAGR
7.8%
5.3%
Revenue, 5-year CAGR
9.1%
5.0%
EPS growth (TTM)
+4.4%
—
EPS growth, consensus next FY
−1.2%
+5.8%
EPS, 3-year CAGR
13.6%
24.3%
Free cash flow, 3-year CAGR
11.7%
7.6%
Diluted shares, 3-year change
0.0%
−2.2%
Profitability
COST FY2026 · WMT TTM to Jul 2026Gross margin (FY)†
0.0%
24.9%
Operating margin
3.9%
4.4%
EBITDA margin
4.7%
6.4%
Net margin
3.0%
3.0%
Free-cash-flow margin (FY)
3.1%
2.1%
Return on equity
25.8%
22.5%
Return on assets
10.4%
7.5%
Asset turnover
3.40
2.50
† Gross margin (FY): As filed. Companies draw the cost-of-revenue line in different places, so gross margins of two companies in one industry can differ for that reason alone; operating margin does not depend on where the line is drawn.
Balance sheet
COST MRQ Aug 2026 · WMT MRQ Jul 2026Cash
$20.21B
$11.53B
Total debt
$8.58B
$73.75B
Net debt
−$11.63B
$62.23B
Debt / equity
0.2×
0.8×
Net debt / EBITDA (TTM)
-0.8×
1.3×
Interest coverage (FY)
-80.6×
10.7×
Current ratio (FY)
1.06
0.79
Dividends
trailing 12 monthsDividend yield
0.6%
0.8%
Dividends per share
$5.54
$0.98
Payout ratio (of TTM EPS)
26.7%
35.4%
Dividend per share, 5-year CAGR
−15.7%
6.0%
Frequency
Quarterly
Quarterly
Ownership and activity
last 90 days · latest 13FTracked superinvestors holding (13F)
8
8
Insider open-market buys (Form 4)
$0
$0
Insider sales (Form 4)
$3.8M
$11.1M
Analyst upgrades
1
1
Analyst downgrades
0
1
Statements
COST income FY2026 · cash flow FY2026 · WMT income TTM to Jul 2026 · cash flow FY2026Revenue
$303.15B
$735.84B
EBITDA
$14.36B
$46.76B
Operating income
$11.69B
$32.28B
Net income
$9.23B
$22.08B
EPS (diluted)
$20.76
$2.76
Operating cash flow
$15.82B
$41.56B
Capital expenditure
−$6.43B
−$26.64B
Free cash flow
$9.39B
$14.92B
Dividends paid
$2.46B
$7.51B
Statements, prices, dividends and consensus estimates from Financial Modeling Prep; insider trades from Form 4 and holdings from 13F. Refreshed nightly. A comparison of filed numbers, not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security.