COST vs PSMT vs BJ Stock Comparison

Costco Wholesale, Pricesmart and BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (WMT) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
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
4 wins
PSMT Pricesmart Inc
$170.95 -1.0% 1M +38.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.24B
P/E
32.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.69B
Div. yield
–
Warehouse Clubs Consumer Staples
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Costco Wholesale leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Costco Wholesale 4, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings 4, Pricesmart 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOSTPSMTBJLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $446.27B $5.24B $13.51B COST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 48.4x 32.7x 22.7x BJ
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 47.2x 31.7x 23.2x BJ
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.1% +10.2% +9.1% PSMT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.0% 2.8% 2.6% COST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.7% 12.0% 21.9% BJ
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.1x -0.4x 0.5x COST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.5% +38.9% +13.2% PSMT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.8%/yr +17.9%/yr +11.5%/yr PSMT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.0% 28.0% 30.8% COST
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 50/100 59/100 BJ

Percentile Scorecard

COSTPSMTBJ

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

AxisCOSTPSMTBJ
Valuation 8 #37 of 40 23 #31 of 40 39 #25 of 40
Growth 78 #9 of 38 68 #13 of 38 57 #17 of 38
Profitability 72 #11 of 37 58 #16 of 37 69 #12 of 37
Financial Health 85 #7 of 40 80 #9 of 40 54 #19 of 40
Shareholder Returns 11 #25 of 28 22 #22 of 28 74 #8 of 28
Overall 51 50 59
  • COST ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • PSMT ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • BJ ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOSTPSMTBJSPY
1 month +10.9%-1.0%+17.7% -1.0%
3 months +7.3%-8.2%+13.9% +2.9%
6 months -0.8%+6.1%+12.2% +6.4%
Year to date +16.3%+39.4%+17.6% +11.4%
1 year +6.5%+38.9%+13.2% +13.1%
3 years +81.8%+136.7%+50.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +22.1%+33.3%+14.5% +21.5%
5 years +108.2%+127.3%+72.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year +15.8%+17.9%+11.5% +10.9%
10 years +573.5%+98.2%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +21.0%+7.1%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCOSTPSMTBJSPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.0%28.0%30.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.6%29.0%29.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.200.63-0.44 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.331.390.43 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -31.5%-34.5%-30.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.3%-13.6%-0.7% -2.5%
52-week high $1,094.32$197.90$106.62 $779.14
52-week low $850.00$114.94$83.82 $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.

MultipleCOSTPSMTBJ
P/E now vs peer median 48.3xmedian 21.6x 32.2xmedian 21.6x 22.6xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 0.5x 0.9xmedian 0.5x 0.6xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 29.9xmedian 9.7x 14.6xmedian 9.7x 12.1xmedian 9.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.4xmedian 17.8x 71.5xmedian 17.8x 37.4xmedian 17.8x
P/B now vs peer median 12.4xmedian 3.0x 3.8xmedian 3.0x 6.1xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median 3.55median 1.06 2.67median 1.06 3.05median 1.06

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 monthsCOSTPSMTBJ
Revenue $303.15B $5.69B $22.81B
Gross profit $38.88B $1.00B $4.16B
Operating income $11.69B $256.74M $856.70M
Net income $9.23B $160.49M $594.50M
Free cash flow $9.38B $73.74M $358.22M
EPS (diluted) $20.76 $5.30 $4.65
Cash & equivalents $20.21B $208.44M $29.98M
Total debt $23.19B $183.15M $629.25M
Shares (diluted) 444.43M 30.27M 127.74M
Enterprise value $369.55B $3.98B $13.36B

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
MetricCOSTPSMTBJ
P/E 48.3x 32.2x 22.6x
P/FCF 47.4x 71.5x 37.4x
P/Operating cash flow 28.1x 19.2x 12.0x
P/S 1.5x 0.9x 0.6x
P/B 12.4x 3.8x 6.1x
P/Tangible book 12.4x 3.8x 6.4x
EV/EBITDA 29.9x 14.6x 12.1x
EV/EBIT 36.8x 20.0x 16.3x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 0.9x 0.6x
EV/FCF 45.8x 69.7x 39.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.2x 18.7x 12.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.55 2.67 3.05

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOSTPSMTBJ
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.1% 10.2% 9.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 9.7% 5.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.0% 12.2% 6.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.4% 10.6% 5.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.5% 12.1% 3.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 10.3% 3.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.9% 10.4% 2.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 11.1% 5.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 14.0% 9.7% 6.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 12.1% 7.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.6% 24.1% 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 0.2% 21.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.7% -20.5% 26.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.6% -21.8% 22.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOSTPSMTBJ
Gross margin 12.8% 17.6% 18.2%
EBITDA margin 4.7% 6.2% 5.1%
Operating margin 3.9% 4.5% 3.8%
Pretax margin 4.0% 3.9% 3.6%
Net margin 3.0% 2.8% 2.6%
FCF margin 3.1% 1.3% 1.6%
Operating cash flow margin 5.2% 4.8% 4.9%
Return on equity 26.6% 11.8% 27.5%
Return on assets 10.5% 6.5% 7.5%
Return on invested capital 21.7% 12.0% 21.9%
Return on capital employed 26.7% 15.6% 17.2%
Asset turnover 3.5x 2.3x 2.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.7x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.4% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOSTPSMTBJ
Debt / assets 6.9% 7.3% 7.9%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.1x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA -1.1x -0.4x 0.5x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 2.5x 1.8x
Liabilities / assets 59.8% 44.7% 72.5%
Equity / assets 40.2% 55.3% 27.5%
Interest coverage 80.6x 16.3x 18.5x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.3x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.4x 0.1x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.4x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 9.33 6.12 4.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOSTPSMTBJ
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.8% –
Net buyback yield 0.2% 0.2% 4.1%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 1.0% 4.1%
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.

ConsensusCOSTPSMTBJ
Forward P/E 47.2xFY2027 31.7xFY2026 23.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $21.24FY2027 $5.40FY2026 $4.57FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.3%FY2027 +12.0%FY2026 +3.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.4% +12.2% +13.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $345.31BFY2027 $5.53BFY2026 $22.89BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.9%FY2027 +4.9%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.5% +24.9% +14.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOSTPSMTBJ
Held by institutions 73.2% 91.1% 100.0%
Institutions holding 4,208 386 638
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% +4.4% +1.8%
Institutions buying 1,920 215 325
Institutions selling 1,704 116 232
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.85 1.40

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.

COSTPSMTBJ
COST 1.00 0.25 0.54
PSMT 0.25 1.00 0.14
BJ 0.54 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry
COST · Warehouse Clubs

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COST, PSMT and BJ?

Costco Wholesale (COST) is the largest by market capitalisation: Costco Wholesale (COST) $446.27B, Pricesmart (PSMT) $5.24B, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) $13.51B.

Which stock is cheaper, COST, PSMT and BJ?

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Costco Wholesale (COST) 48.4x, Pricesmart (PSMT) 32.7x, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 22.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) is cheapest (Costco Wholesale (COST) 47.2x, Pricesmart (PSMT) 31.7x, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 23.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Pricesmart (PSMT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Costco Wholesale (COST) +10.1%, Pricesmart (PSMT) +10.2%, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) +9.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Costco Wholesale (COST) has the highest net margin (Costco Wholesale (COST) 3.0%, Pricesmart (PSMT) 2.8%, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 2.6%). On return on invested capital, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) leads (Costco Wholesale (COST) 21.7%, Pricesmart (PSMT) 12.0%, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 21.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Pricesmart (PSMT) returned the most: Costco Wholesale (COST) +6.5%, Pricesmart (PSMT) +38.9%, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) +13.2%. Over five years, Pricesmart (PSMT) compounded fastest (Costco Wholesale (COST) +15.8%/yr, Pricesmart (PSMT) +17.9%/yr, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) +11.5%/yr). 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%, Pricesmart (PSMT) 28.0%, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ) 30.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 4. 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.