Costco Wholesale (COST) FCF Margin (2009 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale (COST) reported FCF Margin of 2.89% for fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended May 10, 2026), down 0.80 percentage points from 3.68% a year earlier but up 0.43 percentage points from the prior quarter.
Costco Wholesale (COST) FCF Margin (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
Over the twelve months ended May 10, 2026, Costco Wholesale's FCF Margin came in at 3.00%, up 0.28 percentage points year-over-year; for FY2025 (ended Aug 31, 2025), it was 2.85%, up 0.24 percentage points from FY2024.
- FCF Margin has a five-year change of -0.78 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- By fiscal year, FCF Margin came in at 2.61% in FY2024 (-0.18 pp), 2.78% in FY2023 (+1.24 pp), 1.54% in FY2022 (-1.20 pp) and 2.74% in FY2021 (-0.89 pp).
- Five-year quarterly FCF Margin spans a low of -0.62% in fiscal Q2 2022 and a high of 6.25% in fiscal Q1 2024.
- Year over year, FCF Margin gained in four of the last eight quarters, with an average year-over-year change of +0.06 percentage points.
- The high point for year-over-year FCF Margin in five years was fiscal Q2 2023 (a gain of 4.79 percentage points); the low point was fiscal Q2 2024 (a drop of 4.68 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, the three fiscal quarters before Q3 2026 came in at 2.45% (Q2 2026), 4.70% (Q1 2026) and 2.21% (Q4 2025).
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | FCF Margin (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 862.64 Bn | 825.34 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 3.98% |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 409.33 Bn | 338.62 Bn | 9.01 Bn | 2.89% |
| 3 | Sysco | 37.65 Bn | 31.90 Bn | 4.13 Bn | 4.23% |
| 4 | Kroger | 35.26 Bn | 21.42 Bn | 7.86 Bn | - |
| 5 | Dollar General | 27.43 Bn | 22.11 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 3.31% |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 22.41 Bn | 20.40 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 3.34% |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 21.77 Bn | 18.40 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 13.80% |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 20.27 Bn | 20.06 Bn | 1.92 Bn | 3.37% |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 16.74 Bn | 15.90 Bn | 1.68 Bn | 7.24% |
| 10 | Performance Food | 14.36 Bn | 14.14 Bn | 2.17 Bn | 1.24% |
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| May 10, 2026 | 2.89% |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 2.45% |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 4.70% |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 2.21% |
| May 11, 2025 | 3.68% |
| Feb 16, 2025 | 2.53% |
| Nov 24, 2024 | 3.21% |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 1.73% |
| May 12, 2024 | 3.31% |
| Feb 18, 2024 | -0.51% |
| Nov 26, 2023 | 6.25% |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 2.75% |
| May 7, 2023 | 1.34% |
| Feb 12, 2023 | 4.17% |
| Nov 20, 2022 | 2.85% |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 1.73% |
| May 8, 2022 | 0.71% |
| Feb 13, 2022 | -0.62% |
| Nov 21, 2021 | 4.37% |
| Aug 29, 2021 | 2.95% |
Costco Wholesale FCF Margin API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=fcf-margin&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "fcf-margin", "ticker": "COST", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=fcf-margin&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();