COST vs KO Stock Comparison

Costco Wholesale and Coca Cola 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
$444.53B
P/E
48.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$303.15B
Div. yield
–
Warehouse Clubs Consumer Staples
5 wins
KO Coca Cola Co
$92.70 +5.2% 1M +32.5% 1Y
Market cap
$398.05B
P/E
27.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$50.13B
Div. yield
–
Non-Alcoholic Beverages Consumer Staples
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Coca Cola leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Coca Cola 6, Costco Wholesale 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOSTKOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $444.53B $398.05B COST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 48.2x 27.8x KO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 47.2x 28.6x KO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.1% +6.5% COST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.0% 28.6% KO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.7% 15.4% COST
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.1x 1.9x COST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.5% +32.5% KO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.8%/yr +11.2%/yr COST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.0% 19.2% KO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 59/100 KO

Percentile Scorecard

COSTKO

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

AxisCOSTKO
Valuation 8 #37 of 40 27 #28 of 38
Growth 78 #9 of 38 63 #13 of 33
Profitability 72 #11 of 37 97 #2 of 32
Financial Health 85 #7 of 40 60 #16 of 38
Shareholder Returns 11 #25 of 28 48 #13 of 24
Overall 51 59
  • COST ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • KO ranked among 41 companies in Beverages

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOSTKOSPY
1 month +10.9%+5.2% -1.0%
3 months +7.3%+12.7% +2.9%
6 months -0.8%+21.0% +6.4%
Year to date +16.3%+32.6% +11.4%
1 year +6.5%+32.5% +13.1%
3 years +81.8%+66.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +22.1%+18.6% +21.5%
5 years +108.2%+70.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year +15.8%+11.2% +10.9%
10 years +573.5%+120.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +21.0%+8.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCOSTKOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.0%19.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.6%16.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.20-0.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.331.70 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -31.5%-20.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.3%-2.8% -2.5%
52-week high $1,094.32$95.34 $779.14
52-week low $850.00$67.54 $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.

MultipleCOSTKO
P/E now vs peer median 48.3xmedian 21.6x 27.9xmedian 27.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 0.5x 8.0xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 29.9xmedian 9.7x 27.0xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.4xmedian 17.8x 27.9xmedian 18.3x
P/B now vs peer median 12.4xmedian 3.0x 10.4xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median 3.55median 1.06 2.51median 2.03

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 monthsCOSTKO
Revenue $303.15B $50.13B
Gross profit $38.88B $31.02B
Operating income $11.69B $14.85B
Net income $9.23B $14.40B
Free cash flow $9.38B $14.30B
EPS (diluted) $20.76 $3.32
Cash & equivalents $20.21B $12.91B
Total debt $23.19B $177.22B
Shares (diluted) 444.43M 4.31B
Enterprise value $367.81B $384.52B

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
MetricCOSTKO
P/E 48.3x 27.9x
P/FCF 47.4x 27.9x
P/Operating cash flow 28.1x 24.4x
P/S 1.5x 8.0x
P/B 12.4x 10.4x
P/Tangible book 12.4x 15.5x
EV/EBITDA 29.9x 27.0x
EV/EBIT 36.8x 28.9x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 8.6x
EV/FCF 45.8x 30.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.2x 26.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.55 2.51

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOSTKO
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.1% 6.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 4.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.0% 7.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.4% 6.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.5% 12.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 10.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.9% 18.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 11.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 14.0% 17.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 11.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.6% 1,156%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 13.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.7% 2,080%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.6% 14.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOSTKO
Gross margin 12.8% 61.9%
EBITDA margin 4.7% 31.7%
Operating margin 3.9% 29.6%
Pretax margin 4.0% 34.4%
Net margin 3.0% 28.6%
FCF margin 3.1% 28.5%
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% 32.6%
Return on equity 26.6% 38.9%
Return on assets 10.5% 13.6%
Return on invested capital 21.7% 15.4%
Return on capital employed 26.7% 18.4%
Asset turnover 3.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOSTKO
Debt / assets 6.9% 40.3%
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA -1.1x 1.9x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 3.0x
Liabilities / assets 59.8% 64.5%
Equity / assets 40.2% 35.5%
Interest coverage 80.6x 9.5x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 9.33 5.53

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOSTKO
Dividend yield 0.6% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 0.2% 0.1%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 2.4%
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.

ConsensusCOSTKO
Forward P/E 47.2xFY2027 28.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $21.24FY2027 $3.24FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.3%FY2027 +8.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.4% +11.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $345.31BFY2027 $47.01BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.9%FY2027 -1.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.5% +0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOSTKO
Held by institutions 73.2% 75.2%
Institutions holding 4,208 3,641
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% +1.9%
Institutions buying 1,920 1,806
Institutions selling 1,704 1,359
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.33

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.

COSTKO
COST 1.00 0.40
KO 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COST and KO?

Costco Wholesale (COST) is the largest by market capitalisation: Costco Wholesale (COST) $444.53B, Coca Cola (KO) $398.05B.

Which stock is cheaper, COST and KO?

Coca Cola (KO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Costco Wholesale (COST) 48.2x, Coca Cola (KO) 27.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Coca Cola (KO) is cheapest (Costco Wholesale (COST) 47.2x, Coca Cola (KO) 28.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Costco Wholesale (COST) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Costco Wholesale (COST) +10.1%, Coca Cola (KO) +6.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Coca Cola (KO) has the highest net margin (Costco Wholesale (COST) 3.0%, Coca Cola (KO) 28.6%). On return on invested capital, Costco Wholesale (COST) leads (Costco Wholesale (COST) 21.7%, Coca Cola (KO) 15.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Coca Cola (KO) returned the most: Costco Wholesale (COST) +6.5%, Coca Cola (KO) +32.5%. Over five years, Costco Wholesale (COST) compounded fastest (Costco Wholesale (COST) +15.8%/yr, Coca Cola (KO) +11.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Coca Cola (KO) has been the steadiest (Costco Wholesale (COST) 20.0%, Coca Cola (KO) 19.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do COST and KO move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.40, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, COST and KO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Coca Cola (KO) 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.