Costco Wholesale (COST)
What the price implies
A reverse DCF: instead of guessing a fair value, it asks what growth today's price already assumes. How it works.
At a market value of $425.3B, Costco Wholesale's free cash flow of $7.8B (fiscal 2025) would need to grow about 18% a year for the stock to be worth today's price. That is slower than the company has grown its free cash flow over the last 9 years.
Assumes a 9% discount rate and 3% growth after year 10, on free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital spending) from Costco Wholesale's SEC filings. Change any assumption, or model revenue and margins instead, in the Modeling tab, or try your own numbers in the reverse DCF calculator.
Fundamental grade
Five factors scored 1 to 9 from COST's latest numbers, weighted into one grade. It describes the business, not whether the stock is a buy.
Key numbers
Results from SEC filings
Fiscal years, from Costco Wholesale's 10-K filings. The deep dive has 15+ years, quarters and every line.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $195.9B | $227.0B | $242.3B | $254.5B | $275.2B |
| Net income | $5.0B | $5.8B | $6.3B | $7.4B | $8.1B |
| Free cash flow | $5.4B | $3.5B | $6.7B | $6.6B | $7.8B |
| EPS (diluted) | $11.27 | $13.14 | $14.16 | $16.56 | $18.21 |
| Operating margin | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
Where the revenue comes from
Revenue by products, fiscal 2025.
Superinvestors who own COST
From each investor's latest 13F filing (what a 13F shows). 8 of the investors we track hold it.
| Investor | Last quarter | Value | % of portfolio | Quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliff Asness AQR Capital Management |
Added | $1.2B | 0.41% | Q2 2026 |
| Tom Gayner Markel Group Inc. |
Held | $37M | 0.28% | Q2 2026 |
| Hersh Cohen ClearBridge Investments |
Trimmed | $29M | 0.02% | Q2 2026 |
| Joel Greenblatt Gotham Asset Management |
Added | $23M | 0.05% | Q2 2026 |
| Ron Baron Baron Capital (BAMCO) |
Trimmed | $5M | 0.01% | Q2 2026 |
| Mario Gabelli GAMCO Investors |
Trimmed | $5M | 0.04% | Q2 2026 |
| Eric Marshall Hodges Capital Management |
Trimmed | $4M | 0.24% | Q2 2026 |
| Bill Nygren Harris Associates LP |
Trimmed | $334,898 | 0.0% | Q2 2026 |
Insider buying
Open-market purchases by Costco Wholesale's executives and directors in the last 12 months, from SEC Form 4 filings. What insider buying tells you.
| Date | Insider | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 2026 | Ro Khanna |
0 | $998.12 | — |
| Feb 24, 2026 | Ro Khanna |
0 | $998.12 | — |
| Jan 30, 2026 | Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. |
0 | $940.25 | — |
| Jan 30, 2026 | Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. |
0 | $940.25 | — |
| Jan 6, 2026 | Ro Khanna |
0 | $889.10 | — |
| Jan 6, 2026 | Ro Khanna |
0 | $889.10 | — |
| Dec 29, 2025 | Markwayne Mullin |
0 | $867.84 | — |
| Dec 29, 2025 | Markwayne Mullin |
0 | $867.84 | — |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Ro Khanna |
0 | $915.56 | — |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Ro Khanna |
0 | $915.56 | — |
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In the full deep dive
Questions
What growth does Costco Wholesale's stock price imply?
At a market value of $425.3B, Costco Wholesale would need its free cash flow to grow about 18% a year for 10 years (discounted at 9%, 3% growth after that) to be worth today's price. Over the last 9 years its free cash flow grew 32% a year.
Are Costco Wholesale insiders buying the stock?
10 open-market insider purchases of COST in the last 12 months, from SEC Form 4 filings.
Which superinvestors own Costco Wholesale?
8 of the superinvestors Investingly tracks hold COST in their latest 13F, including Cliff Asness, Tom Gayner, Hersh Cohen.
Prices and ratios as of Oct 7, 2026; statements from SEC filings. Information only, not investment advice. Superinvestor holdings come from 13F filings, which are filed up to 45 days after each quarter ends.