Costco Wholesale (COST) Stock Analysis
Consumer CyclicalRetail-Variety Stores
Q4 2026 · +11.1% revenue · +35.7% revenue
Beat the trendvs trailing 3-quarter avg
Revenue▲+1.4 ppvs trend
Net income▲+1.4 ppvs trend
Diluted EPS▲+1.5 ppvs trend
Outperformed in 3 of 3 metrics
How the cash was deployedQ4 2026
We don't yet have a complete cash-flow breakdown for this quarter.
Last 8 quarters of revenueLatest quarter highlighted. Q4 reconstructed from the annual filing.
+11.1% +35.7%
62.15BQ1 25
63.72BQ2 25
63.20BQ3 25
86.16BQ4 25*
67.31BQ1 26
69.60BQ2 26
70.53BQ3 26
95.72BQ4 26*
* Q4 is reconstructed from the annual filing (FY − Q1 − Q2 − Q3), since the SEC does not require a Q4 10-Q.
RevenueAccelerating
$95.72B▲+11.1% ▲+35.7%
58.52B
79.70B
62.15B
63.72B
63.20B
86.16B
67.31B
69.60B
70.53B
95.72B
Net incomeAccelerating
$3.00B▲+14.9% ▲+36.8%
1.68B
2.35B
1.80B
1.79B
1.90B
2.61B
2.00B
2.04B
2.19B
3.00B
Free cash flowReversal
−$9.82B— ▼−242%
5.25B
−8.61B
2.00B
3.61B
5.94B
−7.10B
3.16B
4.87B
6.91B
−9.82B
Diluted Accelerating
$6.75▲+15.0% ▲+36.9%
3.78
5.28
4.04
4.02
4.28
5.87
4.50
4.58
4.93
6.75
Margins
Gross marginReversal
12.7 %▼−0.2 pp ▼−0.0 pp
12.55
12.68
12.94
12.52
12.99
12.91
13.07
12.76
12.77
12.74
Operating marginReversal
4.0 %▲+0.1 pp ▼−0.0 pp
3.75
3.82
3.53
3.63
4.00
3.88
3.66
3.74
3.99
3.97
Net marginSlowing
3.1 %▲+0.1 pp ▲+0.0 pp
2.87
2.95
2.89
2.81
3.01
3.03
2.97
2.92
3.11
3.13
| Metric | Q4 2025Same quarter, prior year | Q3 2026Previous quarter | Q4 2026Latest quarter | YoY | QoQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $86.16B | $70.53B | $95.72B | +11.1% | +35.7% |
| Cost of revenue | $75.04B | $61.52B | $83.53B | +11.3% | +35.8% |
| Gross profit | $11.12B | $9.01B | $12.19B | +9.7% | +35.3% |
| Operating expenses | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | $3.34B | $2.81B | $3.80B | +13.8% | +35.0% |
| Net income | $2.61B | $2.19B | $3.00B | +14.9% | +36.8% |
| Diluted | $5.87 | $4.93 | $6.75 | +15.0% | +36.9% |
| Operating cash flow | −$5.40B | $11.13B | −$7.69B | — | −169% |
| −$1.70B | $4.23B | −$2.13B | — | −150% | |
| Free cash flow | −$7.10B | $6.91B | −$9.82B | — | −242% |
| Gross margin | 12.9 % | 12.8 % | 12.7 % | −0.2 pp | −0.0 pp |
| Operating margin | 3.9 % | 4.0 % | 4.0 % | +0.1 pp | −0.0 pp |
| Net margin | 3.0 % | 3.1 % | 3.1 % | +0.1 pp | +0.0 pp |