Costco Wholesale (COST) Operating Expenses (2009 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale (COST) posted Operating Expenses of $6.19 billion for fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended May 10, 2026), up 9.1% from $5.68 billion a year earlier but down 1.3% from the prior quarter.
Costco Wholesale (COST) Operating Expenses (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For the trailing twelve months through May 10, 2026, Operating Expenses at Costco Wholesale was $26.58 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year; for FY2025 (ended Aug 31, 2025), it came in at $24.97 billion, up 9.5% from FY2024.
- Annual Operating Expenses has increased for 16 consecutive fiscal years, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 8.8% (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In prior fiscal years, Costco Wholesale's Operating Expenses was $22.81 billion in FY2024 (+5.7%), $21.59 billion in FY2023 (+9.2%), $19.78 billion in FY2022 (+6.7%) and $18.54 billion in FY2021 (+13.1%).
- Quarterly Operating Expenses has run from a low of $4.45 billion in fiscal Q3 2022 to a high of $7.78 billion in fiscal Q4 2025 over five years.
- On a year-over-year basis, Operating Expenses has increased in each of the last 63 quarters, with growth averaging 8.5% over the last eight quarters.
- Across the past five years, year-over-year growth in Operating Expenses ran from 1.8% in fiscal Q4 2024 to 15.0% in fiscal Q4 2023.
- According to Business Quant data, Operating Expenses for the three prior fiscal quarters was $6.27 billion (Q2 2026), $6.33 billion (Q1 2026) and $7.78 billion (Q4 2025).
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | Opex (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 862.64 Bn | 825.34 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 39.75 Bn |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 409.33 Bn | 338.62 Bn | 9.01 Bn | 6.19 Bn |
| 3 | Sysco | 37.65 Bn | 31.90 Bn | 4.13 Bn | 3.15 Bn |
| 4 | Kroger | 35.26 Bn | 21.42 Bn | 7.86 Bn | 198.00 Mn |
| 5 | Dollar General | 27.43 Bn | 22.11 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 2.91 Bn |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 22.41 Bn | 20.40 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 754.11 Mn |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 21.77 Bn | 18.40 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 1.43 Bn |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 20.27 Bn | 20.06 Bn | 1.92 Bn | 1.48 Bn |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 16.74 Bn | 15.90 Bn | 1.68 Bn | 1.02 Bn |
| 10 | Performance Food | 14.36 Bn | 14.14 Bn | 2.17 Bn | 1.85 Bn |
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| May 10, 2026 | 6.19 Bn |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 6.27 Bn |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 6.33 Bn |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 7.78 Bn |
| May 11, 2025 | 5.68 Bn |
| Feb 16, 2025 | 5.66 Bn |
| Nov 24, 2024 | 5.85 Bn |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 7.07 Bn |
| May 12, 2024 | 5.15 Bn |
| Feb 18, 2024 | 5.24 Bn |
| Nov 26, 2023 | 5.36 Bn |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 6.94 Bn |
| May 7, 2023 | 4.79 Bn |
| Feb 12, 2023 | 4.94 Bn |
| Nov 20, 2022 | 4.92 Bn |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 6.04 Bn |
| May 8, 2022 | 4.45 Bn |
| Feb 13, 2022 | 4.58 Bn |
| Nov 21, 2021 | 4.72 Bn |
| Aug 29, 2021 | 5.67 Bn |
Costco Wholesale Operating Expenses 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=operating-expenses&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "operating-expenses", "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=operating-expenses&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();