COST vs GBTG Stock Comparison

Costco Wholesale and Global Business Travel Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
COST Costco Wholesale Corp /New
$1,003.32 +10.9% 1M +6.5% 1Y
Market cap
$446.27B
P/E
48.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$303.15B
Div. yield
–
Warehouse Clubs Consumer Staples
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Costco Wholesale leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Costco Wholesale 6, Global Business Travel 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOSTGBTGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $446.27B $4.96B COST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 48.4x 55.5x COST
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 47.2x 43.2x GBTG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.1% +30.2% GBTG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.0% 2.8% COST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.7% 2.2% COST
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.1x 3.4x COST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.5% +16.1% GBTG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.8%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.0% 56.9% COST
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 52/100 GBTG

Percentile Scorecard

COSTGBTG

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

AxisCOSTGBTG
Valuation 8 #37 of 40 39 #18 of 29
Growth 78 #9 of 38 72 #8 of 26
Profitability 72 #11 of 37 40 #16 of 26
Financial Health 85 #7 of 40 63 #12 of 31
Shareholder Returns 11 #25 of 28 47 #11 of 20
Overall 51 52
  • COST ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • GBTG ranked among 32 companies in Travel and Lodging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOSTGBTGSPY
1 month +10.9%+0.2% -1.0%
3 months +7.3%+1.2% +2.9%
6 months -0.8%+70.3% +6.4%
Year to date +16.3%+24.2% +11.4%
1 year +6.5%+16.1% +13.1%
3 years +81.8%+72.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +22.1%+20.0% +21.5%
5 years +108.2%— +67.7%
5 years, per year +15.8%— +10.9%
10 years +573.5%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +21.0%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCOSTGBTGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.0%56.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.6%42.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.200.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.330.28 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -31.5%-48.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.3%-0.1% -2.5%
52-week high $1,094.32$9.51 $779.14
52-week low $850.00$4.97 $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.

MultipleCOSTGBTG
P/E now vs peer median 48.3xmedian 21.6x 55.5xmedian 18.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 0.5x 1.6xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 29.9xmedian 9.7x 20.3xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.4xmedian 17.8x 48.7xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 12.4xmedian 3.0x 3.0xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 3.55median 1.06 1.88median 0.37

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 monthsCOSTGBTG
Revenue $303.15B $3.18B
Gross profit $38.88B $1.86B
Operating income $11.69B $68.00M
Net income $9.23B $92.00M
Free cash flow $9.38B $102.00M
EPS (diluted) $20.76 $0.17
Cash & equivalents $20.21B $518.00M
Total debt $23.19B $1.51B
Shares (diluted) 444.43M 520.37M
Enterprise value $369.55B $3.19B

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
MetricCOSTGBTG
P/E 48.3x 55.5x
P/FCF 47.4x 48.7x
P/Operating cash flow 28.1x 19.9x
P/S 1.5x 1.6x
P/B 12.4x 3.0x
P/Tangible book 12.4x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA 29.9x 20.3x
EV/EBIT 36.8x 87.6x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 1.9x
EV/FCF 45.8x 58.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.2x 23.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.55 1.88

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOSTGBTG
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.1% 30.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 13.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.0% 24.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.4% 14.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.5% -53.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 40.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.9% 276.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 34.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 14.0% 240.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 29.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.6% -3.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 60.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.7% -29.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.6% 34.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOSTGBTG
Gross margin 12.8% 58.5%
EBITDA margin 4.7% 9.2%
Operating margin 3.9% 2.1%
Pretax margin 4.0% 1.4%
Net margin 3.0% 2.8%
FCF margin 3.1% 3.2%
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% 7.9%
Return on equity 26.6% 5.6%
Return on assets 10.5% 1.8%
Return on invested capital 21.7% 2.2%
Return on capital employed 26.7% 1.9%
Asset turnover 3.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 2.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 2.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOSTGBTG
Debt / assets 6.9% 29.8%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA -1.1x 3.4x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 14.8x
Liabilities / assets 59.8% 67.6%
Equity / assets 40.2% 32.4%
Interest coverage 80.6x 0.7x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 9.33 1.22

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOSTGBTG
Dividend yield 0.6% –
Net buyback yield 0.2% 2.2%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 2.2%
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.

ConsensusCOSTGBTG
Forward P/E 47.2xFY2027 43.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $21.24FY2027 $0.22FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.3%FY2027 0.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.4% +127.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $345.31BFY2027 $3.56BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.9%FY2027 +30.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.5% +8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOSTGBTG
Held by institutions 73.2% 64.2%
Institutions holding 4,208 192
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% -0.6%
Institutions buying 1,920 136
Institutions selling 1,704 31
Buyers to sellers 1.13 4.39

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.

COSTGBTG
COST 1.00 0.04
GBTG 0.04 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COST and GBTG?

Costco Wholesale (COST) is the largest by market capitalisation: Costco Wholesale (COST) $446.27B, Global Business Travel (GBTG) $4.96B.

Which stock is cheaper, COST and GBTG?

Costco Wholesale (COST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Costco Wholesale (COST) 48.4x, Global Business Travel (GBTG) 55.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Global Business Travel (GBTG) is cheapest (Costco Wholesale (COST) 47.2x, Global Business Travel (GBTG) 43.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Global Business Travel (GBTG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Costco Wholesale (COST) +10.1%, Global Business Travel (GBTG) +30.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Costco Wholesale (COST) has the highest net margin (Costco Wholesale (COST) 3.0%, Global Business Travel (GBTG) 2.8%). On return on invested capital, Costco Wholesale (COST) leads (Costco Wholesale (COST) 21.7%, Global Business Travel (GBTG) 2.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Global Business Travel (GBTG) returned the most: Costco Wholesale (COST) +6.5%, Global Business Travel (GBTG) +16.1%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Costco Wholesale (COST) has been the steadiest (Costco Wholesale (COST) 20.0%, Global Business Travel (GBTG) 56.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do COST and GBTG move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.04, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, COST and GBTG?

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 6. 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.