Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] (2010 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale (COST) posted Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] of 26.16% for fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended May 10, 2026), down 1.26 percentage points from 27.42% a year earlier but up 0.39 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] (2010 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025 (ended Aug 31, 2025), Costco Wholesale's Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] came in at 28.56%, up 1.21 percentage points from FY2024.
- Annual Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] shows a five-year change of +7.36 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In prior fiscal years, Costco Wholesale's Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] was 27.35% in FY2024 (+2.76 pp), 24.59% in FY2023 (-1.63 pp), 26.22% in FY2022 (+2.24 pp) and 23.98% in FY2021 (+2.78 pp).
- Quarterly Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] has run from a low of 22.31% in fiscal Q3 2023 to a high of 28.50% in fiscal Q1 2025 over five years.
- On a year-over-year basis, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] has declined in each of the last five quarters, with an average year-over-year change of +0.76 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- The strongest year-over-year quarter for Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] in the past five years was fiscal Q3 2024, with a gain of 6.10 percentage points; the weakest was fiscal Q3 2023, with a drop of 1.63 percentage points.
- According to Business Quant data, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] for the three prior fiscal quarters was 25.77% (Q2 2026), 27.92% (Q1 2026) and 26.50% (Q4 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROCE (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 827.17 Bn | 789.87 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 18.33% |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 408.32 Bn | 337.62 Bn | 9.01 Bn | 26.16% |
| 3 | Sysco | 37.11 Bn | 31.36 Bn | 4.13 Bn | 17.51% |
| 4 | Kroger | 34.86 Bn | 21.01 Bn | 7.86 Bn | 4.92% |
| 5 | Dollar General | 26.24 Bn | 20.91 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 9.89% |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 22.83 Bn | 20.83 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 20.28% |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 21.05 Bn | 17.67 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 20.72% |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 20.97 Bn | 20.76 Bn | 1.92 Bn | 12.21% |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 16.22 Bn | 15.39 Bn | 1.68 Bn | 15.37% |
| 10 | Performance Food | 14.65 Bn | 14.43 Bn | 2.17 Bn | 6.59% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| May 10, 2026 | 26.16% |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 25.77% |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 27.92% |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 26.50% |
| May 11, 2025 | 27.42% |
| Feb 16, 2025 | 26.86% |
| Nov 24, 2024 | 28.50% |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 27.79% |
| May 12, 2024 | 28.42% |
| Feb 18, 2024 | 24.07% |
| Nov 26, 2023 | 24.13% |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 23.66% |
| May 7, 2023 | 22.31% |
| Feb 12, 2023 | 23.41% |
| Nov 20, 2022 | 24.51% |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 24.34% |
| May 8, 2022 | 23.94% |
| Feb 13, 2022 | 23.21% |
| Nov 21, 2021 | 24.57% |
| Aug 29, 2021 | 23.27% |
API Access
Costco Wholesale Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] 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=return-on-capital-employed-%5Broce%5D&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-capital-employed-[roce]", "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=return-on-capital-employed-%5Broce%5D&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();