GBTG vs EXPE vs COST Stock Comparison

Global Business Travel, Expedia and Costco Wholesale Prices as of Sep 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EXPE Expedia Group, Inc.
$289.01 +11.6% 1M +34.0% 1Y
Market cap
$34.13B
P/E
16.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.70B
Div. yield
0.01%
Digital Marketplaces Technology
6 wins
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

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Expedia leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Expedia 6, Costco Wholesale 4, Global Business Travel 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGBTGEXPECOSTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.96B $34.13B $446.27B COST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 55.5x 16.8x 48.4x EXPE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 43.2x 14.3x 47.2x EXPE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +30.2% +12.0% +10.1% GBTG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.8% 13.0% 3.0% EXPE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.2% 29.5% 21.7% EXPE
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.4x -0.5x -1.1x COST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +16.1% +34.0% +6.5% EXPE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +12.3%/yr +15.8%/yr COST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 56.9% 51.0% 20.0% COST
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 63/100 51/100 EXPE

Percentile Scorecard

GBTGEXPECOST

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

AxisGBTGEXPECOST
Valuation 39 #18 of 29 65 #60 of 167 8 #37 of 40
Growth 72 #8 of 26 77 #36 of 153 78 #9 of 38
Profitability 40 #16 of 26 97 #6 of 153 72 #11 of 37
Financial Health 63 #12 of 31 33 #121 of 179 85 #7 of 40
Shareholder Returns 47 #11 of 20 44 #53 of 94 11 #25 of 28
Overall 52 63 51
  • GBTG ranked among 32 companies in Travel and Lodging
  • EXPE ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • 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

PeriodGBTGEXPECOSTSPY
1 month +0.2%+11.6%+10.9% -1.0%
3 months +1.2%+11.2%+7.3% +2.9%
6 months +70.3%+14.9%-0.8% +6.4%
Year to date +24.2%+2.0%+16.3% +11.4%
1 year +16.1%+34.0%+6.5% +13.1%
3 years +72.7%+197.1%+81.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +20.0%+43.8%+22.1% +21.5%
5 years —+78.8%+108.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year —+12.3%+15.8% +10.9%
10 years —+126.5%+573.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+8.5%+21.0% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureGBTGEXPECOSTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 56.9%51.0%20.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.9%50.7%19.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.590.98-0.20 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.280.670.33 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.0%-60.9%-31.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.1%-14.8%-8.3% -2.5%
52-week high $9.51$339.12$1,094.32 $779.14
52-week low $4.97$188.51$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.

MultipleGBTGEXPECOST
P/E now vs peer median 55.5xmedian 18.8x 17.1xmedian 17.5x 48.3xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 1.5x 2.1xmedian 1.4x 1.5xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 20.3xmedian 15.0x 9.2xmedian 14.9x 29.9xmedian 9.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 48.7xmedian 16.0x 7.4xmedian 11.2x 47.4xmedian 17.8x
P/B now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 2.5x 13.4xmedian 1.7x 12.4xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.88median 0.37 0.42median 0.42 3.55median 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 monthsGBTGEXPECOST
Revenue $3.18B $15.70B $303.15B
Gross profit $1.86B $14.20B $38.88B
Operating income $68.00M $2.51B $11.69B
Net income $92.00M $2.04B $9.23B
Free cash flow $102.00M $4.46B $9.38B
R&D – $1.28B –
EPS (diluted) $0.17 $16.61 $20.76
Cash & equivalents $518.00M $6.68B $20.21B
Total debt $1.51B $5.46B $23.19B
Shares (diluted) 520.37M 122.55M 444.43M
Enterprise value $3.19B $9.31B $369.55B

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
MetricGBTGEXPECOST
P/E 55.5x 17.1x 48.3x
P/FCF 48.7x 7.4x 47.4x
P/Operating cash flow 19.9x 6.3x 28.1x
P/S 1.6x 2.1x 1.5x
P/B 3.0x 13.4x 12.4x
P/Tangible book 5.9x 20.8x 12.4x
EV/EBITDA 20.3x 9.2x 29.9x
EV/EBIT 87.6x 12.5x 36.8x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 2.0x 1.4x
EV/FCF 58.4x 7.0x 45.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.8x 6.0x 27.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.88 0.42 3.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGBTGEXPECOST
Revenue growth (1Y) 30.2% 12.0% 10.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 8.6% 7.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 24.5% 13.0% 10.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.4% 10.3% 9.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -53.4% 80.0% 12.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 40.2% 27.9% 12.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 276.9% 83.5% 13.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 34.3% 31.4% 13.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 240.9% 98.2% 14.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 29.4% 41.0% 13.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.8% 87.8% 18.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 60.8% 18.6% 12.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -29.7% 123.3% 19.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 34.8% 24.3% 11.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGBTGEXPECOST
Gross margin 58.5% 90.4% 12.8%
EBITDA margin 9.2% 21.7% 4.7%
Operating margin 2.1% 16.0% 3.9%
Pretax margin 1.4% 15.5% 4.0%
Net margin 2.8% 13.0% 3.0%
FCF margin 3.2% 28.4% 3.1%
Operating cash flow margin 7.9% 33.2% 5.2%
Return on equity 5.6% 94.7% 26.6%
Return on assets 1.8% 7.3% 10.5%
Return on invested capital 2.2% 29.5% 21.7%
Return on capital employed 1.9% 33.9% 26.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.6x 3.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.7x 2.6x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 2.3% 2.6% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGBTGEXPECOST
Debt / assets 29.8% 18.8% 6.9%
Debt / equity 0.9x 2.2x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x -0.5x -1.1x
Debt / FCF 14.8x 1.2x 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 67.6% 91.5% 59.8%
Equity / assets 32.4% 8.5% 40.2%
Interest coverage 0.7x 7.1x 80.6x
Current ratio 1.2x 0.8x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.4x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 1.22 1.52 9.33

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGBTGEXPECOST
Dividend yield – 0.6% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 2.2% 5.6% 0.2%
Shareholder yield 2.2% 6.3% 0.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 10.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 4.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 109.8% –
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.

ConsensusGBTGEXPECOST
Forward P/E 43.2xFY2026 14.3xFY2026 47.2xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $0.22FY2026 $20.17FY2026 $21.24FY2027
EPS growth, next FY 0.0%FY2026 +27.2%FY2026 +2.3%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +127.3% +16.3% +22.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.56BFY2026 $16.58BFY2026 $345.31BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +30.8%FY2026 +12.5%FY2026 +13.9%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +8.1% +1.5% -4.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGBTGEXPECOST
Held by institutions 64.2% 100.0% 73.2%
Institutions holding 192 1,118 4,208
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.6% +7.8% +5.0%
Institutions buying 136 602 1,920
Institutions selling 31 361 1,704
Buyers to sellers 4.39 1.67 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.

GBTGEXPECOST
GBTG 1.00 0.18 0.04
EXPE 0.18 1.00 0.02
COST 0.04 0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GBTG, EXPE and COST?

Costco Wholesale (COST) is the largest by market capitalisation: Global Business Travel (GBTG) $4.96B, Expedia (EXPE) $34.13B, Costco Wholesale (COST) $446.27B.

Which stock is cheaper, GBTG, EXPE and COST?

Expedia (EXPE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Global Business Travel (GBTG) 55.5x, Expedia (EXPE) 16.8x, Costco Wholesale (COST) 48.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Expedia (EXPE) is cheapest (Global Business Travel (GBTG) 43.2x, Expedia (EXPE) 14.3x, Costco Wholesale (COST) 47.2x). 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: Global Business Travel (GBTG) +30.2%, Expedia (EXPE) +12.0%, Costco Wholesale (COST) +10.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Expedia (EXPE) has the highest net margin (Global Business Travel (GBTG) 2.8%, Expedia (EXPE) 13.0%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 3.0%). On return on invested capital, Expedia (EXPE) leads (Global Business Travel (GBTG) 2.2%, Expedia (EXPE) 29.5%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 21.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Expedia (EXPE) returned the most: Global Business Travel (GBTG) +16.1%, Expedia (EXPE) +34.0%, Costco Wholesale (COST) +6.5%. Over five years, Costco Wholesale (COST) compounded fastest (Expedia (EXPE) +12.3%/yr, Costco Wholesale (COST) +15.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Expedia (EXPE) 0.01%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 0.00%. Global Business Travel (GBTG) and Costco Wholesale (COST) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Costco Wholesale (COST) has been the steadiest (Global Business Travel (GBTG) 56.9%, Expedia (EXPE) 51.0%, Costco Wholesale (COST) 20.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GBTG, EXPE 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, Expedia (EXPE) 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.