Costco Wholesale (COST) Retained Earnings (2009 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale's Retained Earnings came in at $26.48 billion for fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended May 10, 2026), up 26.8% from $20.89 billion a year earlier and up 5.4% from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Costco Wholesale (COST) Retained Earnings (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
At the end of FY2025 (ended Aug 31, 2025), Costco Wholesale's Retained Earnings was $22.65 billion, up 28.6% from FY2024.
- Retained Earnings carries a five-year compound annual growth rate of 12.0% (FY2020 to FY2025).
- Going back by fiscal year, Retained Earnings was $17.62 billion in FY2024 (-9.7%), $19.52 billion in FY2023 (+25.3%), $15.59 billion in FY2022 (+33.6%) and $11.67 billion in FY2021 (-9.4%).
- The fiscal Q3 2026 figure represents the highest quarterly Retained Earnings in data going back to fiscal Q4 2009.
- Year-over-year, Retained Earnings has increased for six consecutive quarters, with growth averaging 19.3% over the last eight quarters.
- The fastest year-over-year change in Retained Earnings over five years came in fiscal Q2 2022 (growth of 38.0%), and the weakest in fiscal Q2 2024 (a decline of 13.6%).
- Business Quant data shows COST's Retained Earnings at $25.12 billion (Q2 2026), $23.87 billion (Q1 2026) and $22.65 billion (Q4 2025) in the three fiscal quarters before Q3 2026.
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | Retained Earnings (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 847.32 Bn | 810.03 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 103.60 Bn |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 410.07 Bn | 339.37 Bn | 9.01 Bn | 26.48 Bn |
| 3 | Sysco | 37.60 Bn | 31.85 Bn | 4.13 Bn | 13.75 Bn |
| 4 | Kroger | 35.90 Bn | 22.05 Bn | 7.86 Bn | 29.95 Bn |
| 5 | Dollar General | 27.06 Bn | 21.73 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 5.13 Bn |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 22.17 Bn | 20.17 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 4.09 Bn |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 21.26 Bn | 17.89 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 3.48 Bn |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 20.27 Bn | 20.07 Bn | 1.92 Bn | 3.07 Bn |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 16.44 Bn | 15.61 Bn | 1.68 Bn | 7.79 Bn |
| 10 | Performance Food | 14.36 Bn | 14.14 Bn | 2.17 Bn | 2.00 Bn |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| May 10, 2026 | 26.48 Bn |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 25.12 Bn |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 23.87 Bn |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 22.65 Bn |
| May 11, 2025 | 20.89 Bn |
| Feb 16, 2025 | 19.77 Bn |
| Nov 24, 2024 | 18.70 Bn |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 17.62 Bn |
| May 12, 2024 | 15.99 Bn |
| Feb 18, 2024 | 14.98 Bn |
| Nov 26, 2023 | 20.50 Bn |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 19.52 Bn |
| May 7, 2023 | 18.04 Bn |
| Feb 12, 2023 | 17.34 Bn |
| Nov 20, 2022 | 16.41 Bn |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 15.59 Bn |
| May 8, 2022 | 14.29 Bn |
| Feb 13, 2022 | 13.47 Bn |
| Nov 21, 2021 | 12.61 Bn |
| Aug 29, 2021 | 11.67 Bn |
API Access
Costco Wholesale Retained Earnings 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=retained-earnings&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "retained-earnings", "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=retained-earnings&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();