Costco vs Target
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The short version
- Costco is the larger business, with $303.2B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $104.8B for Target, about 2.9 times as much.
- Costco grew revenue faster (10.1%, against −1.7%).
- Target kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (4.9% operating margin, against 3.9%).
- Costco earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (40.7%, against 15.0%).
| Latest fiscal year | COST · FY26 | TGT · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $445.9B | $69.8B |
| Revenue | $303.2B | $104.8B |
| Free cash flow | $9.4B | $2.8B |
| Net income | $9.2B | $3.7B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 10.1% | −1.7% |
| 5-year growth | 9.1% | 2.3% |
| Share count change | −0.1% | −1.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 12.8% | 27.9% |
| Operating margin | 3.9% | 4.9% |
| Net margin | 3.0% | 3.5% |
| FCF margin | 3.1% | 2.7% |
| Return on capital | 40.7% | 15.0% |
| Return on equity | 28.4% | 24.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$13.7B | $11.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.0x | 1.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $3.3B | $2.5B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 15.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
COST $129.0B
TGT $72.7B
FY18
COST $141.6B
TGT $75.4B
FY19
COST $152.7B
TGT $78.1B
FY20
COST $166.8B
TGT $93.6B
FY21
COST $195.9B
TGT $106.0B
FY22
COST $227.0B
TGT $109.1B
FY23
COST $242.3B
TGT $107.4B
FY24
COST $254.5B
TGT $106.6B
FY25
COST $275.2B
TGT $104.8B
FY26
COST $303.2B
TGT —
COST
TGT
Operating margin
FY17
COST 3.2%
TGT 5.8%
FY18
COST 3.2%
TGT 5.5%
FY19
COST 3.1%
TGT 6.0%
FY20
COST 3.3%
TGT 7.0%
FY21
COST 3.4%
TGT 8.4%
FY22
COST 3.4%
TGT 3.5%
FY23
COST 3.4%
TGT 5.3%
FY24
COST 3.7%
TGT 5.2%
FY25
COST 3.8%
TGT 4.9%
FY26
COST 3.9%
TGT —
COST
TGT
Free cash flow
FY17
COST $4.2B
TGT $4.4B
FY18
COST $2.8B
TGT $2.5B
FY19
COST $3.4B
TGT $4.1B
FY20
COST $6.1B
TGT $7.9B
FY21
COST $5.4B
TGT $5.1B
FY22
COST $3.5B
TGT −$1.5B
FY23
COST $6.7B
TGT $3.8B
FY24
COST $6.6B
TGT $4.5B
FY25
COST $7.8B
TGT $2.8B
FY26
COST $9.4B
TGT —
COST
TGT
Return on capital
FY17
COST 22.4%
TGT 16.3%
FY18
COST 26.3%
TGT 15.8%
FY19
COST 28.9%
TGT 17.4%
FY20
COST 30.8%
TGT 26.2%
FY21
COST 36.1%
TGT 35.6%
FY22
COST 38.2%
TGT 13.7%
FY23
COST 37.0%
TGT 17.6%
FY24
COST 38.9%
TGT 16.8%
FY25
COST 37.9%
TGT 15.0%
FY26
COST 40.7%
TGT —
COST
TGT
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.