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 0.5×, Costco 0.2×.
- Market value: Walmart $945.50B, Costco $438.30B.
- EV / EBITDA: Costco 29.6×, Walmart 20.8×.
- Free-cash-flow yield: Costco 2.1%, Walmart 1.6%.
Price return
2025-10-16 → 2026-10-16
COST+6.9%
WMT+11.6%
Profile
latestSector
Consumer Defensive
Consumer Defensive
Industry
Discount Stores
Discount Stores
Market value
$438.30B
$945.50B
Enterprise value
$425.03B
$984.38B
Employees
355,000
2,100,000
Revenue per employee (TTM)
$854K
$347K
Our models
nightlythe valuation on each stock's pagePrice vs model
145% overvalued vs model
208% overvalued vs model
Model range
$286–773
$23.34–102
Models in the headline
1
1
FCF growth priced in, at a 10% return
24.8%
32.2%
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 2026-10-16Last close
$989.11
$118.81
52-week high
$1094.32
$134.20
52-week low
$850.00
$100.61
Price vs 52-week high
−9.6%
−11.5%
Price vs 52-week low
+16.4%
+18.1%
Average daily volume / shares
0.5%
0.3%
Beta
0.87
0.58
Returns
to 2026-10-161 month
+10.7%
+10.5%
3 months
+4.6%
+3.4%
6 months
+0.2%
−4.8%
Year to date
+14.7%
+6.6%
1 year
+6.9%
+11.6%
1 year, dividends added
+7.5%
+12.5%
2 years
+11.5%
+46.3%
Valuation
COST price × FY2026 · WMT price × TTM to Jul 2026P/E (TTM)
47.6×
43.0×
P/E on consensus EPS (next FY)
48.2×
41.1×
Price / sales
1.4×
1.3×
EV / sales
1.4×
1.4×
EV / EBITDA
29.6×
20.8×
Price / book
13.1×
9.6×
Price / free cash flow (FY)
46.7×
63.4×
Free-cash-flow yield (FY)
2.1%
1.6%
Growth
TTM and FY2026Revenue growth (TTM)
+3.3%
+4.6%
Revenue growth, consensus next FY
−0.3%
+6.5%
Revenue, 3-year CAGR
7.8%
5.3%
Revenue, 5-year CAGR
9.1%
4.9%
EPS growth (TTM)
+4.4%
−3.5%
EPS growth, consensus next FY
−1.2%
+5.8%
EPS, 3-year CAGR
13.6%
24.2%
Free cash flow, 3-year CAGR
11.6%
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%
6.5%
Net margin
3.0%
3.0%
Free-cash-flow margin (FY)
3.1%
2.1%
Return on equity
27.5%
22.5%
Return on assets
10.7%
7.5%
Asset turnover
3.51
2.48
† 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 May 2026 · WMT MRQ Jul 2026Cash
$18.95B
$11.53B
Total debt
$5.67B
$50.41B
Net debt
−$13.28B
$38.88B
Debt / equity
0.2×
0.5×
Net debt / EBITDA (TTM)
-0.9×
0.8×
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
$728.47B
EBITDA
$14.36B
$47.37B
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
$9.38B
$14.92B
Dividends paid
$2.46B
$7.51B
Statements from the companies' SEC filings; 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.