Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Equity [ROE] (2010 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale's Return on Equity [ROE] was 26.95% in fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended May 10, 2026), down 2.82 percentage points from 29.76% a year earlier and down 0.46 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Equity [ROE] (2010 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025 (ended Aug 31, 2025), Return on Equity [ROE] at Costco Wholesale came in at 30.69%, up 0.42 percentage points from FY2024.
- Return on Equity [ROE] shows a five-year change of +7.01 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In earlier fiscal years, Return on Equity [ROE] was 30.27% in FY2024 (+2.73 pp), 27.53% in FY2023 (-3.02 pp), 30.55% in FY2022 (+2.93 pp) and 27.62% in FY2021 (+3.94 pp).
- The fiscal Q3 2026 figure marks the lowest quarterly Return on Equity [ROE] since fiscal Q1 2024.
- Compared with a year earlier, Return on Equity [ROE] has declined for five straight quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -0.37 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- The best year-over-year quarter for Return on Equity [ROE] over five years was fiscal Q3 2024 (a gain of 7.81 percentage points); the worst was fiscal Q3 2025 (a drop of 3.97 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, COST's Return on Equity [ROE] in the three fiscal quarters before Q3 2026 was 27.41% (Q2 2026), 27.92% (Q1 2026) and 28.78% (Q4 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROE (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 824.47 Bn | 787.18 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 21.93% |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 403.75 Bn | 333.05 Bn | 9.01 Bn | 26.95% |
| 3 | Sysco | 37.36 Bn | 31.61 Bn | 4.13 Bn | 70.76% |
| 4 | Kroger | 34.63 Bn | 20.79 Bn | 7.86 Bn | 13.55% |
| 5 | Dollar General | 26.38 Bn | 21.06 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 18.79% |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 22.49 Bn | 20.48 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 19.21% |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 21.40 Bn | 18.02 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 46.52% |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 19.94 Bn | 19.74 Bn | 1.92 Bn | 16.91% |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 16.33 Bn | 15.49 Bn | 1.68 Bn | 39.33% |
| 10 | Performance Food | 14.29 Bn | 14.07 Bn | 2.17 Bn | 7.47% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| May 10, 2026 | 26.95% |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 27.41% |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 27.92% |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 28.78% |
| May 11, 2025 | 29.76% |
| Feb 16, 2025 | 30.47% |
| Nov 24, 2024 | 31.52% |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 32.46% |
| May 12, 2024 | 33.73% |
| Feb 18, 2024 | 28.97% |
| Nov 26, 2023 | 25.45% |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 25.88% |
| May 7, 2023 | 25.92% |
| Feb 12, 2023 | 27.46% |
| Nov 20, 2022 | 28.17% |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 28.74% |
| May 8, 2022 | 28.31% |
| Feb 13, 2022 | 28.69% |
| Nov 21, 2021 | 28.28% |
| Aug 29, 2021 | 28.98% |
API Access
Costco Wholesale Return on Equity [ROE] 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-equity-%5Broe%5D&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-equity-[roe]", "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-equity-%5Broe%5D&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();