Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Stock

About Costco Wholesale Corporation

Costco Wholesale Corporation, alongside its group entities, operates membership-based retail warehouses across a broad international scope, spanning the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. These outlets provide customers with an extensive array of both well-known branded and proprietary private-label products. Their vast inventory includes household staples, shelf-stable groceries, confectionery, chilled and frozen items, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and deli selections. Furthermore, the stores stock major appliances, consumer electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, garden and patio furniture, sporting goods, vehicle tires, toys, seasonal merchandise, office supplies, automotive maintenance products, postage services, event tickets, apparel, small kitchen appliances, home furnishings, domestic textiles, kitchenware, custom-order kiosks, and fine jewelry. Fresh departments offer meat, produce, a service deli, and bakery items. Beyond retail goods, Costco provides in-store amenities such as pharmacies, optical clinics, food courts, hearing aid centers, and tire installation facilities, in addition to managing 636 gas stations. The company also extends its offerings online through business delivery, travel booking, and same-day grocery fulfillment in various countries. As of August 29, 2021, Costco maintained a global network of 815 membership warehouses, with 564 located in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 30 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 16 in South Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, 3 in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Digital storefronts facilitate e-commerce operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. Founded in 1976, the enterprise was originally known as Costco Companies, Inc. before officially adopting the name Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999. Its corporate headquarters are situated in Issaquah, Washington.

Costco Wholesale Corporation is led by CEO Ron Vachris, employs 333,000 people, headquartered in Issaquah, US, publicly traded since 1986.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) stock trades at $947.82 with a market capitalization of $420.34B. The stock is valued at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 48.79, price-to-book of 26.07, price-to-sales of 1.47. Over the past 52 weeks the stock has ranged between $844.06 and $1096.50, and currently trades 13.6% below its 52-week high. It pays a dividend yielding 0.51%.

On profitability, Costco Wholesale Corporation generates a return on equity (ROE) of 29.15% — well above the market average, a sign of a high-quality business, return on capital employed of 35.60%, an operating margin of 3.82%, a net profit margin of 3.01%.

In its most recent fiscal year, Costco Wholesale Corporation reported annual revenue of $275.2B, net profit of $8.1B, revenue has compounded at 10.5% a year over the last five years, profit at 15.1% a year. Profit growing faster than revenue points to expanding margins.

The balance sheet shows a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.03, total assets of $77.1B, $14.2B in cash and equivalents.

COST has an average daily trading volume of 2,330,000 shares, a beta of 0.87.

Official website: www.costco.com