Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Stock Analysis & Winston Score

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. The company offers sundries, dry groceries, candies, coolers, freezers, liquor, and tobacco and deli products; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardwa

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

30 trades / 12mo

22 Congressional buys and 8 sells on COST in the last 12 months.

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Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+9.2% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+13.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady EPS growth

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (2%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

0.6%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$17.4B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth context

Costco Wholesale Corporation is growing revenue at 9% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Share count broadly stable

+0.1% over 4y

The share count has stayed roughly flat over this period — little dilution or buyback activity.

Diluted shares outstanding: 444.3M (2021) → 444.8M (2025)

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin

12.8%

Thin — 12.8% gross margin

Operating Margin

3.7%

Thin — 3.7% operating margin

ROCE

6.9%

Weak — 6.9% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+7.1%

Steady sales growth (7.1% YoY)

EPS YoY

+7.1%

Modest earnings growth (7.1% YoY)

Single-digit earnings growth — steady but not exciting.

EPS Consistency

8/8 quarters

Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

157%

Turns 157% of profit into real cash

FCF Margin

2.7%

Thin free cash flow (2.7%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.18

Conservative — low debt load (0.18)

Interest Cover

71.95x

Comfortably covers interest (72.0x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

50.1x

Expensive — P/E 50.1

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

P/E vs Forward

+12.1

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (50.1 → 38.0)

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

0.57%

Small dividend — 0.57% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend Growth

+12.3%

Dividend growing fast (12.3% YoY)

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