COST vs GLP vs MUSA Stock Comparison

Costco Wholesale, Global Partners and Murphy USA Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GLP Global Partners Lp
$47.98 +3.2% 1M +4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.60B
P/E
9.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$21.46B
Div. yield
0.08%
Fuel Distribution Energy
3 wins
MUSA Murphy USA Inc.
$540.50 +6.5% 1M +37.8% 1Y
Market cap
$9.77B
P/E
14.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$23.26B
Div. yield
–
Convenience Stores Consumer Staples
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Costco Wholesale leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Costco Wholesale 6, Global Partners 3, Murphy USA 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOSTGLPMUSALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $452.16B $1.60B $9.77B COST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 49.0x 9.2x 14.7x GLP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 46.9x 7.7x 15.2x GLP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.1% +20.4% +20.2% GLP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.0% 0.8% — COST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.7% 14.9% — COST
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.1x 2.6x — COST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.08% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.2% +4.9% +37.8% MUSA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.2%/yr +15.5%/yr +27.1%/yr MUSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.0% 30.2% 39.9% COST
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 47/100 50/100 COST

Percentile Scorecard

COSTGLPMUSA

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

AxisCOSTGLPMUSA
Valuation 8 #37 of 40 55 #11 of 23 54 #19 of 40
Growth 76 #10 of 38 50 #10 of 19 78 #9 of 38
Profitability 74 #10 of 36 6 #17 of 18 94 #3 of 36
Financial Health 85 #7 of 40 35 #16 of 24 13 #35 of 40
Shareholder Returns 15 #24 of 28 88 #3 of 18 11 #25 of 28
Overall 51 47 50
  • COST ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • GLP ranked among 25 companies in Refining and Marketing
  • MUSA ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOSTGLPMUSASPY
1 month +7.7%+3.2%+6.5% +0.7%
3 months +4.4%-2.0%-12.4% +3.7%
6 months -1.8%-0.5%-8.1% +7.1%
Year to date +15.5%+14.6%+33.9% +12.8%
1 year +9.2%+4.9%+37.8% +11.9%
3 years +79.5%+56.1%+49.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +21.6%+16.0%+14.4% +22.8%
5 years +102.6%+105.6%+231.7% +67.6%
5 years, per year +15.2%+15.5%+27.1% +10.9%
10 years +565.1%+198.0%+681.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year +20.9%+11.5%+22.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCOSTGLPMUSASPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.0%30.2%39.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.8%30.1%40.5% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.200.12-0.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.460.160.95 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -31.5%-33.9%-35.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.0%-11.1%-13.3% -1.2%
52-week high $1,094.32$54.00$623.43 $779.14
52-week low $850.00$39.58$356.57 $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.

MultipleCOSTGLPMUSA
P/E now vs peer median 47.9xmedian 22.1x 9.3xmedian 8.8x 15.0xmedian 22.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 0.5x 0.1xmedian 0.2x 0.4xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 29.7xmedian 9.5x 6.0xmedian 7.0x —median 9.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.1xmedian 16.0x 8.2xmedian 7.5x 17.2xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 12.3xmedian 2.8x 2.2xmedian 1.7x 12.5xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median 3.52median 1.07 -1.02median 0.34 1.07median 1.07

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 monthsCOSTGLPMUSA
Revenue $303.15B $21.46B $23.26B
Gross profit $38.88B $1.20B –
Operating income $11.69B $331.81M $980.10M
Net income $9.23B $195.20M $663.30M
Free cash flow $9.38B $199.43M –
EPS (diluted) $20.76 $5.11 $35.75
Cash & equivalents $20.21B $23.91M $161.80M
Total debt $6.16B $1.31B –
Shares (diluted) 444.43M 34.12M 18.55M
Enterprise value $375.44B $1.43B $9.77B

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
MetricCOSTGLPMUSA
P/E 47.9x 9.3x 15.0x
P/FCF 47.1x 8.2x 17.2x
P/Operating cash flow 27.9x 5.0x 8.6x
P/S 1.5x 0.1x 0.4x
P/B 12.3x 2.2x 12.5x
P/Tangible book 12.3x 2.2x 15.2x
EV/EBITDA 29.7x 6.0x –
EV/EBIT 36.5x 8.7x –
EV/Revenue 1.4x 0.1x 0.4x
EV/FCF 45.4x 14.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow 27.0x 8.9x 8.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.52 -1.02 1.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOSTGLPMUSA
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.1% 20.4% 20.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 8.2% 2.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.0% 10.4% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.4% 3.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.5% 28.9% 38.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.9% -0.3% 7.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.9% 71.7% 40.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.6% -6.6% 8.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 14.0% 80.9% 45.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.6% -9.1% 14.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.6% -8.4% 40.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% -1.6% 16.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.7% -20.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.6% -5.9% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOSTGLPMUSA
Gross margin 12.8% 5.6% –
EBITDA margin 4.7% 2.2% –
Operating margin 3.9% 1.5% –
Pretax margin 4.0% 0.9% –
Net margin 3.0% 0.8% –
FCF margin 3.1% 0.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% 1.5% 4.9%
Return on equity 26.6% 26.7% 84.1%
Return on assets 10.5% 4.7% 12.9%
Return on invested capital 21.7% 14.9% –
Return on capital employed 26.7% 11.2% –
Asset turnover 3.5x 5.1x 4.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.7x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOSTGLPMUSA
Debt / assets 6.9% 32.5% –
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA -1.1x 2.6x –
Debt / FCF 0.7x 6.6x –
Liabilities / assets 59.8% 81.4% 84.7%
Equity / assets 40.2% 18.6% 15.3%
Interest coverage 80.6x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.2x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.6x –
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.0x –
Altman Z-score 9.30 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOSTGLPMUSA
Dividend yield 0.6% 6.4% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 0.2% – –
Shareholder yield 0.7% 6.4% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 66.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 64.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 5.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -2.1% –

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.

ConsensusCOSTGLPMUSA
Forward P/E 46.9xFY2027 7.7xFY2026 15.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $21.22FY2027 $6.20FY2026 $35.60FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.2%FY2027 +193.8%FY2026 +43.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.4% -41.6% -7.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $345.44BFY2027 $26.25BFY2026 $22.85BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.0%FY2027 +41.4%FY2026 +17.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.4% +37.7% -5.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOSTGLPMUSA
Held by institutions 73.2% 49.8% 83.0%
Institutions holding 4,211 115 607
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% +1.7% -2.2%
Institutions buying 1,921 60 311
Institutions selling 1,706 17 190
Buyers to sellers 1.13 3.53 1.64

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.

COSTGLPMUSA
COST 1.00 0.04 0.22
GLP 0.04 1.00 0.20
MUSA 0.22 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COST, GLP and MUSA?

Costco Wholesale (COST) is the largest by market capitalisation: Costco Wholesale (COST) $452.16B, Global Partners (GLP) $1.60B, Murphy USA (MUSA) $9.77B.

Which stock is cheaper, COST, GLP and MUSA?

Global Partners (GLP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Costco Wholesale (COST) 49.0x, Global Partners (GLP) 9.2x, Murphy USA (MUSA) 14.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Global Partners (GLP) is cheapest (Costco Wholesale (COST) 46.9x, Global Partners (GLP) 7.7x, Murphy USA (MUSA) 15.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Global Partners (GLP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Costco Wholesale (COST) +10.1%, Global Partners (GLP) +20.4%, Murphy USA (MUSA) +20.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Costco Wholesale (COST) has the highest net margin (Costco Wholesale (COST) 3.0%, Global Partners (GLP) 0.8%). On return on invested capital, Costco Wholesale (COST) leads (Costco Wholesale (COST) 21.7%, Global Partners (GLP) 14.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Murphy USA (MUSA) returned the most: Costco Wholesale (COST) +9.2%, Global Partners (GLP) +4.9%, Murphy USA (MUSA) +37.8%. Over five years, Murphy USA (MUSA) compounded fastest (Costco Wholesale (COST) +15.2%/yr, Global Partners (GLP) +15.5%/yr, Murphy USA (MUSA) +27.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Costco Wholesale (COST) 0.00%, Global Partners (GLP) 0.08%, Murphy USA (MUSA) 0.00%. Costco Wholesale (COST) and Murphy USA (MUSA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Costco Wholesale (COST) has been the steadiest (Costco Wholesale (COST) 20.0%, Global Partners (GLP) 30.2%, Murphy USA (MUSA) 39.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.