BJ vs MUSA vs COST Stock Comparison

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Murphy USA and Costco Wholesale Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MUSA Murphy USA Inc.
$516.78 -0.6% 1M +30.4% 1Y
Market cap
$9.50B
P/E
14.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$23.26B
Div. yield
0.49%
Convenience Stores Consumer Staples
5 wins
COST Costco Wholesale Corp /New
$982.73 +6.5% 1M +6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$435.61B
P/E
47.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$303.15B
Div. yield
0.56%
Warehouse Clubs Consumer Staples
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Costco Wholesale leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Costco Wholesale 5, Murphy USA 5, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBJMUSACOSTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.08B $9.50B $435.61B COST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.1x 14.4x 47.3x MUSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.6x 14.5x 46.3x MUSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.1% +20.2% +10.1% MUSA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.6% — 3.0% COST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.9% — 21.7% BJ
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.5x — -1.1x COST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.49% 0.56% COST
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.9% +30.4% +6.3% MUSA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.1%/yr +26.0%/yr +14.9%/yr MUSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.8% 39.6% 20.0% COST
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 51/100 52/100 BJ

Percentile Scorecard

BJMUSACOST

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBJMUSACOST
Valuation 46 #22 of 40 54 #19 of 40 8 #37 of 40
Growth 60 #16 of 38 81 #8 of 38 76 #10 of 38
Profitability 71 #11 of 36 94 #3 of 36 74 #10 of 36
Financial Health 49 #21 of 40 13 #35 of 40 85 #7 of 40
Shareholder Returns 74 #8 of 28 11 #25 of 28 19 #23 of 28
Overall 60 51 52
  • BJ ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • MUSA ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • COST ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBJMUSACOSTSPY
1 month +6.8%-0.6%+6.5% +0.9%
3 months +3.4%-16.2%+0.9% +5.9%
6 months +13.1%+0.5%-1.6% +8.5%
Year to date +14.9%+28.1%+14.0% +13.3%
1 year +11.9%+30.4%+6.3% +12.4%
3 years +49.4%+42.0%+81.0% +88.1%
3 years, per year +14.3%+12.4%+21.9% +23.5%
5 years +77.0%+217.1%+99.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year +12.1%+26.0%+14.9% +11.0%
10 years —+646.7%+556.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+22.3%+20.7% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureBJMUSACOSTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.8%39.6%20.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.5%40.3%19.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.45-0.68-0.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.390.770.32 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -30.1%-35.8%-31.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.0%-17.1%-10.2% -0.9%
52-week high $106.62$623.43$1,094.32 $779.14
52-week low $83.82$356.57$850.00 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBJMUSACOST
P/E now vs peer median 22.1xmedian 21.7x 14.4xmedian 21.7x 47.3xmedian 21.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 0.5x 0.4xmedian 0.5x 1.4xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 9.3x —median 9.3x 29.3xmedian 9.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.5xmedian 17.1x 17.2xmedian 17.1x 46.4xmedian 17.1x
P/B now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 2.9x 12.0xmedian 2.9x 12.2xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 2.98median 1.02 1.02median 1.02 3.47median 1.02

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBJMUSACOST
Revenue $22.81B $23.26B $303.15B
Gross profit $4.16B – $38.88B
Operating income $856.70M $980.10M $11.69B
Net income $594.50M $663.30M $9.23B
Free cash flow $358.22M – $9.38B
EPS (diluted) $4.65 $35.75 $20.76
Cash & equivalents $29.98M $161.80M $20.21B
Total debt $629.25M – $6.16B
Shares (diluted) 127.74M 18.55M 444.43M
Enterprise value $12.93B $9.50B $358.89B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBJMUSACOST
P/E 22.1x 14.4x 47.3x
P/FCF 36.5x 17.2x 46.4x
P/Operating cash flow 11.7x 8.3x 27.5x
P/S 0.6x 0.4x 1.4x
P/B 6.0x 12.0x 12.2x
P/Tangible book 6.2x 14.5x 12.2x
EV/EBITDA 11.8x – 29.3x
EV/EBIT 16.0x – 36.0x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 0.4x 1.4x
EV/FCF 38.2x – 44.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.3x 8.3x 26.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.98 1.02 3.47

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBJMUSACOST
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.1% 20.2% 10.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 2.1% 7.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.7% – 10.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.4% – 9.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 3.5% 38.4% 12.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.5% 7.8% 12.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 2.7% 40.8% 13.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 8.1% 13.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.5% 45.9% 14.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 14.1% 13.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.9% 40.6% 18.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.9% 16.1% 12.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 26.9% – 19.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.7% – 11.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBJMUSACOST
Gross margin 18.2% – 12.8%
EBITDA margin 5.1% – 4.7%
Operating margin 3.8% – 3.9%
Pretax margin 3.6% – 4.0%
Net margin 2.6% – 3.0%
FCF margin 1.6% – 3.1%
Operating cash flow margin 4.9% 4.9% 5.2%
Return on equity 27.5% 84.1% 26.6%
Return on assets 7.5% 12.9% 10.5%
Return on invested capital 21.9% – 21.7%
Return on capital employed 17.2% – 26.7%
Asset turnover 2.9x 4.5x 3.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.7x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBJMUSACOST
Debt / assets 7.9% – 6.9%
Debt / equity 0.3x – 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.5x – -1.1x
Debt / FCF 1.8x – 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 72.5% 84.7% 59.8%
Equity / assets 27.5% 15.3% 40.2%
Interest coverage 18.5x – 80.6x
Current ratio 0.7x 0.9x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.1x – 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.0x – 0.5x
Altman Z-score 4.71 – 9.23

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBJMUSACOST
Dividend yield – 0.5% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 4.1% – 0.2%
Shareholder yield 4.1% 0.5% 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBJMUSACOST
Forward P/E 22.6xFY2026 14.5xFY2026 46.3xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $4.57FY2026 $35.60FY2026 $21.22FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +3.9%FY2026 +43.0%FY2026 +2.2%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +13.6% -7.9% +22.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.88BFY2026 $22.85BFY2026 $345.44BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +6.6%FY2026 +17.9%FY2026 +14.0%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +14.3% -5.8% -4.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBJMUSACOST
Held by institutions 100.0% 83.0% 73.2%
Institutions holding 638 606 4,210
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.8% -2.2% +5.0%
Institutions buying 325 310 1,921
Institutions selling 232 190 1,705
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.63 1.13

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BJMUSACOST
BJ 1.00 0.32 0.53
MUSA 0.32 1.00 0.20
COST 0.53 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry
BJ · Warehouse Clubs

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BJ, MUSA and COST?

Costco Wholesale (COST) is the largest by market capitalisation: BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) $13.08B, Murphy USA (MUSA) $9.50B, Costco Wholesale (COST) $435.61B.

Which stock is cheaper, BJ, MUSA and COST?

Murphy USA (MUSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 22.1x, Murphy USA (MUSA) 14.4x, Costco Wholesale (COST) 47.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Murphy USA (MUSA) is cheapest (BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 22.6x, Murphy USA (MUSA) 14.5x, Costco Wholesale (COST) 46.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Murphy USA (MUSA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) +9.1%, Murphy USA (MUSA) +20.2%, Costco Wholesale (COST) +10.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Costco Wholesale (COST) has the highest net margin (BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 2.6%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 3.0%). On return on invested capital, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) leads (BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 21.9%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 21.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Murphy USA (MUSA) returned the most: BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) +11.9%, Murphy USA (MUSA) +30.4%, Costco Wholesale (COST) +6.3%. Over five years, Murphy USA (MUSA) compounded fastest (BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) +12.1%/yr, Murphy USA (MUSA) +26.0%/yr, Costco Wholesale (COST) +14.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Costco Wholesale (COST) has the highest dividend yield: Murphy USA (MUSA) 0.49%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 0.56%. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Costco Wholesale (COST) has been the steadiest (BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 30.8%, Murphy USA (MUSA) 39.6%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 20.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BJ, MUSA and COST?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Costco Wholesale (COST) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.