Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026)
Costco Wholesale's Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] came in at 21.69% for fiscal Q4 2026 (quarter ended Aug 30, 2026), down 1.24 percentage points from 22.93% a year earlier.
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Analysis
Costco Wholesale (COST) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2026 (ended Aug 30, 2026), Costco Wholesale's Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was 22.88%, down 1.23 percentage points from FY2025.
- Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] carries a five-year change of +3.22 percentage points (FY2021 to FY2026).
- Going back by fiscal year, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was 24.11% in FY2025 (+1.10 pp), 23.01% in FY2024 (+2.52 pp), 20.49% in FY2023 (-1.79 pp) and 22.28% in FY2022 (+2.62 pp).
- The fiscal Q4 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 six consecutive quarters, with an average year-over-year change of +0.03 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).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROIC (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walmart | 998.27 Bn | 954.70 Bn | 49.13 Bn | 16.14% |
| 2 | Costco Wholesale | 467.84 Bn | 391.12 Bn | 12.19 Bn | 21.69% |
| 3 | Kroger | 41.10 Bn | 27.25 Bn | 7.86 Bn | 5.65% |
| 4 | Sysco | 37.00 Bn | 28.92 Bn | 4.05 Bn | 13.53% |
| 5 | Dollar General | 29.48 Bn | 24.16 Bn | 3.68 Bn | 13.65% |
| 6 | Caseys General Stores | 25.44 Bn | 23.43 Bn | 1.24 Bn | 18.51% |
| 7 | Dollar Tree | 24.95 Bn | 21.57 Bn | 2.10 Bn | 25.93% |
| 8 | US Foods Holding | 22.95 Bn | 22.75 Bn | 1.90 Bn | 10.60% |
| 9 | Tractor Supply | 18.92 Bn | 18.08 Bn | 1.42 Bn | 21.39% |
| 10 | Performance Food | 16.83 Bn | 16.62 Bn | 2.19 Bn | 6.83% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Aug 30, 2026 | 21.69% |
| May 10, 2026 | 21.94% |
| Feb 15, 2026 | 22.26% |
| Nov 23, 2025 | 22.47% |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 22.93% |
| 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% |
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();