Costco Wholesale (COST) Free Cash Flow (2009 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale's Free Cash Flow came in at $2.04 billion for fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended May 10, 2026), down 12.6% from $2.33 billion a year earlier but up 19.3% from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Costco Wholesale (COST) Free Cash Flow (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
Over the trailing twelve months to May 10, 2026, Costco Wholesale reported Free Cash Flow of $8.81 billion, up 20.3% year-over-year; for FY2025 (ended Aug 31, 2025), it was $7.84 billion, up 18.2% from FY2024.
- Free Cash Flow carries a five-year compound annual growth rate of 5.3% (FY2020 to FY2025).
- Going back by fiscal year, Free Cash Flow was $6.63 billion in FY2024 (-1.7%), $6.75 billion in FY2023 (+92.7%), $3.5 billion in FY2022 (-34.8%) and $5.37 billion in FY2021 (-11.3%).
- The five-year range for quarterly Free Cash Flow is -$322 million (fiscal Q2 2022) to $3.61 billion (fiscal Q1 2024).
- Year-over-year, Free Cash Flow increased in four of the last seven quarters, with growth averaging 4.1%.
- The fastest year-over-year change in Free Cash Flow over five years came in fiscal Q3 2024 (growth of 168.7%), and the weakest in fiscal Q3 2022 (a decline of 83.8%).
- Business Quant data shows COST's Free Cash Flow at $1.71 billion (Q2 2026), $3.16 billion (Q1 2026) and $1.9 billion (Q4 2025) in the three fiscal quarters before Q3 2026.
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | FCF (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 824.47 Bn | 787.18 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 7.48 Bn |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 403.75 Bn | 333.05 Bn | 9.01 Bn | 2.04 Bn |
| 3 | Sysco | 37.36 Bn | 31.61 Bn | 4.13 Bn | 936.00 Mn |
| 4 | Kroger | 34.63 Bn | 20.79 Bn | 7.86 Bn | - |
| 5 | Dollar General | 26.38 Bn | 21.06 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 373.67 Mn |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 22.49 Bn | 20.48 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 189.68 Mn |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 21.40 Bn | 18.02 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 675.20 Mn |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 19.94 Bn | 19.74 Bn | 1.92 Bn | 355.00 Mn |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 16.33 Bn | 15.49 Bn | 1.68 Bn | 328.91 Mn |
| 10 | Performance Food | 14.29 Bn | 14.07 Bn | 2.17 Bn | 223.60 Mn |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| May 10, 2026 | 2.04 Bn |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 1.71 Bn |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 3.16 Bn |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 1.90 Bn |
| May 11, 2025 | 2.33 Bn |
| Feb 16, 2025 | 1.61 Bn |
| Nov 24, 2024 | 2.00 Bn |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 1.38 Bn |
| May 12, 2024 | 1.94 Bn |
| Feb 18, 2024 | -300.00 Mn |
| Nov 26, 2023 | 3.61 Bn |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 2.17 Bn |
| May 7, 2023 | 721.00 Mn |
| Feb 12, 2023 | 2.30 Bn |
| Nov 20, 2022 | 1.55 Bn |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 1.25 Bn |
| May 8, 2022 | 373.00 Mn |
| Feb 13, 2022 | -322.00 Mn |
| Nov 21, 2021 | 2.20 Bn |
| Aug 29, 2021 | 1.85 Bn |
API Access
Costco Wholesale Free Cash Flow 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=free-cash-flow&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "free-cash-flow", "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=free-cash-flow&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();