COST Costco Wholesale Corporation
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) trend channel, buy level and 3-month target on Trade The Path. Sector: Consumer Defensive. Listed on NASDAQ. Levels below are fitted to this ticker's own swing highs and lows (Theil–Sen, log-price), then projected 3 months. On this symbol, 7 comparable calls have settled; 57.1% reached the published sell target. Information only, not financial advice.
Mid-channel, rising this year inside a falling 0.7425543787734653-year channel
Price is between the two trend lines. Nothing to act on yet.
The next few months are read from the last 9 months, the stretch whose swings the lines actually follow, because the last 12 months alone do not contain enough turns to fit reliably (14% against 78%). The last 12 months stay as context: rising, +4% a year. A stock can be falling inside a channel that still rises over years; that is what this is, and only one of the two can be the near-term expectation. The nearest ceiling overhead is US$975.41, from the last 9 months. What would overturn this: a close below US$874.10 — the floor of the channel being read — after which the trend, not the entry, is what was wrong.
- 9 months read from
- US$874.10 – US$975.41 Falling channel, −5% a year
- 12 months
- US$928.79 – US$975.53 Rising channel, +4% a year
- Position in that channel
- 19% 0% at the floor, 100% at the ceiling
Price history, with the path projected 3 months forward
- Daily close
- Upper trend line (9 months)
- Lower trend line (9 months)
- The same lines over the last 12 months
- Dashed after today: projected 3 months
- Our buy
- Our target
Our target
No published call today because its projected path only reaches 4.5% above the entry within 90 days, under the 6.0% floor a call has to clear to be worth making. No alerts are sent. The buy and target below are still this site's read of the fitted channel.
Buy at or below
US$873.85
level as at 17 Sept 2026
Our target
US$955.00
by 16 Dec 2026
Projected move
9.3%
gross, before costs
Price sits between our buy level and our target.
On this stock's own history these rules produced 7 settled calls, of which 4 reached target (57.1%), with an average best move of 8.7%. See the full record.
- Upper line touches
- 4
- Lower line touches
- 5
- Fit confidence
- 78%
- Fitted
- 16 Sept 2026
About Costco Wholesale Corporation
Costco Wholesale Corporation, alongside its group entities, operates membership-based retail warehouses across a broad international scope, spanning the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. These outlets provide customers with an extensive array of both well-known branded and proprietary private-label products. Their vast inventory includes household staples, shelf-stable groceries, confectionery, chilled and frozen items, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and deli selections. Furthermore, the stores stock major appliances, consumer electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, garden and patio furniture, sporting goods, vehicle tires, toys, seasonal merchandise, office supplies, automotive maintenance products, postage services, event tickets, apparel, small kitchen appliances, home furnishings, domestic textiles, kitchenware, custom-order kiosks, and fine jewelry. Fresh departments offer meat, produce, a service deli, and bakery items. Beyond retail goods, Costco provides in-store amenities such as pharmacies, optical clinics, food courts, hearing aid centers, and tire installation facilities, in addition to managing 636 gas stations. The company also extends its offerings online through business delivery, travel booking, and same-day grocery fulfillment in various countries. As of August 29, 2021, Costco maintained a global network of 815 membership warehouses, with 564 located in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 30 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 16 in South Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, 3 in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Digital storefronts facilitate e-commerce operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. Founded in 1976, the enterprise was originally known as Costco Companies, Inc. before officially adopting the name Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999. Its corporate headquarters are situated in Issaquah, Washington.
- Sector
- Consumer Defensive
- Industry
- Discount Stores
- CEO
- Ron Vachris
- Employees
- 341,000
- Country
- US
Scorecard
Our own pillar scores, computed from the fundamentals below. They are not Morningstar ratings — that data is licensed and we do not redistribute it.
- Valuation
- 4/100
- Profitability
- 39/100
- Financial health
- 68/100
- Cash generation
- 19/100
Key statistics
- Market cap
- US$406.11B
- Enterprise value
- US$395.40B
- Beta
- 0.85
- Avg volume
- 2.22M
- Revenue per share
- 661.35
- Dividend yield
- 0.60%
- 52-week range
- 844.06-1096.5
- Exchange
- NASDAQ
Key ratios
- P/E (TTM)
- 45.99
- PEG
- 3.63
- Price / sales
- 1.38
- Price / book
- 12.13
- EV / EBITDA
- 27.33
- Gross margin
- 12.88%
- Operating margin
- 3.82%
- Net margin
- 3.01%
- Current ratio
- 1.07
- Quick ratio
- 0.61
- Debt / equity
- 0.25
- Interest cover
- 76.88
Income statement
| Year | Revenue | Gross profit | Operating income | Net income | EPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | US$275.24B | US$35.35B | US$10.38B | US$8.10B | US$18.21 |
| 2024 | US$254.45B | US$32.09B | US$9.29B | US$7.37B | US$16.56 |
| 2023 | US$242.29B | US$29.70B | US$8.11B | US$6.29B | US$14.16 |
| 2022 | US$226.95B | US$27.57B | US$7.79B | US$5.84B | US$13.14 |
| 2021 | US$195.93B | US$25.25B | US$6.71B | US$5.01B | US$11.27 |
Balance sheet
| Year | Total assets | Total liabilities | Total equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | US$77.10B | US$47.94B | US$29.16B |
| 2024 | US$69.83B | US$46.21B | US$23.62B |
| 2023 | US$68.99B | US$43.94B | US$25.06B |
| 2022 | US$64.17B | US$43.52B | US$20.64B |
| 2021 | US$59.27B | US$41.19B | US$17.56B |
Cash flow
| Year | Operating cash flow | Free cash flow | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | US$13.34B | US$7.84B | US$8.10B |
| 2024 | US$11.34B | US$6.63B | US$7.37B |
| 2023 | US$11.07B | US$6.75B | US$6.29B |
| 2022 | US$7.39B | US$3.50B | US$5.92B |
| 2021 | US$8.96B | US$5.37B | US$5.08B |
EPS forecasts
| Period | Est. EPS | Est. revenue | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | US$18.08 | US$274.81B | 19 |
| 2026 | US$20.52 | US$302.26B | 24 |
| 2027 | US$22.67 | US$326.95B | 27 |
| 2028 | US$24.95 | US$350.75B | 21 |
| 2029 | US$27.07 | US$373.83B | 7 |
| 2030 | US$28.49 | US$394.25B | 3 |
Analyst view
- Target (mean)
- US$1,102
- Target (high)
- US$1,275
- Target (low)
- US$1,000
- Strong buy
- 0
- Buy
- 38
- Hold
- 19
- Sell
- 1
Trend lines are fitted statistically to past swing highs and lows and projected forward on the assumption the same rhythm continues. It often does not. This is information, not advice.