Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale's Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] came in at 21.94% for fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended May 10, 2026), down 1.71 percentage points from 23.65% a year earlier and down 0.32 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025 (ended Aug 31, 2025), Costco Wholesale's Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was 24.14%, up 1.13 percentage points from FY2024.
- Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] carries a five-year change of +7.27 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- Going back by fiscal year, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was 23.01% in FY2024 (+2.52 pp), 20.49% in FY2023 (-1.79 pp), 22.28% in FY2022 (+2.62 pp) and 19.66% in FY2021 (+2.79 pp).
- The fiscal Q3 2026 figure represents the lowest quarterly Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] since fiscal Q2 2024.
- Year-over-year, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] has declined for five consecutive quarters, with an average year-over-year change of +0.77 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- The fastest year-over-year change in Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] over five years came in fiscal Q1 2025 (a gain of 5.16 percentage points), and the weakest in fiscal Q1 2024 (a drop of 2.23 percentage points).
- Business Quant data shows COST's Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] at 22.26% (Q2 2026), 22.50% (Q1 2026) and 22.96% (Q4 2025) in the three fiscal quarters before Q3 2026.
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROIC (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 827.17 Bn | 789.87 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 16.14% |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 408.32 Bn | 337.62 Bn | 9.01 Bn | 21.94% |
| 3 | Sysco | 37.11 Bn | 31.36 Bn | 4.13 Bn | 14.70% |
| 4 | Kroger | 34.86 Bn | 21.01 Bn | 7.86 Bn | 5.65% |
| 5 | Dollar General | 26.24 Bn | 20.91 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 13.65% |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 22.83 Bn | 20.83 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 18.51% |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 21.05 Bn | 17.67 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 25.93% |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 20.97 Bn | 20.76 Bn | 1.92 Bn | 9.89% |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 16.22 Bn | 15.39 Bn | 1.68 Bn | 22.62% |
| 10 | Performance Food | 14.65 Bn | 14.43 Bn | 2.17 Bn | 6.65% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| May 10, 2026 | 21.94% |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 22.26% |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 22.50% |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 22.96% |
| May 11, 2025 | 23.65% |
| Feb 16, 2025 | 23.86% |
| Nov 24, 2024 | 24.24% |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 24.13% |
| May 12, 2024 | 23.94% |
| Feb 18, 2024 | 20.94% |
| Nov 26, 2023 | 19.09% |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 19.54% |
| May 7, 2023 | 19.69% |
| Feb 12, 2023 | 20.78% |
| Nov 20, 2022 | 21.32% |
| Aug 28, 2022 | 21.66% |
| May 8, 2022 | 21.21% |
| Feb 13, 2022 | 21.08% |
| Nov 21, 2021 | 20.20% |
| Aug 29, 2021 | 20.35% |
API Access
Costco Wholesale Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] 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-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-invested-capital-[roic]", "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-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=COST&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();