Costco Wholesale (WBO:COST) Gross Margin %

Costco Wholesale Annual Data
	Trend	Aug14	Aug15	Aug16	Aug17	Aug18	Aug19	Aug20	Aug21	Aug22	Aug23
Gross Margin %							12.98	13.09	12.88	12.15	12.26

Costco Wholesale Quarterly Data
	May19	Aug19	Nov19	Feb20	May20	Aug20	Nov20	Feb21	May21	Aug21	Nov21	Feb22	May22	Aug22	Nov22	Feb23	May23	Aug23	Nov23	Feb24
Gross Margin %																12.38	12.07	12.31	12.70	12.49

For the Discount Stores subindustry, Costco Wholesale's Gross Margin %, along with its competitors' market caps and Gross Margin % data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

For the Retail - Defensive industry and Consumer Defensive sector, Costco Wholesale's Gross Margin % distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Costco Wholesale's Gross Margin % falls into.

Costco Wholesale Gross Margin % Calculation

Gross Margin is the percentage of Gross Profit out of sales or Revenue.

Costco Wholesale's Gross Margin for the fiscal year that ended in Aug. 2023 is calculated as

Costco Wholesale's Gross Margin for the quarter that ended in Feb. 2024 is calculated as

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

A positive Gross Profit is only the first step for a company to make a net profit. The gross profit needs to be big enough to also cover related labor, equipment, rental, marketing/advertising, research and development and a lot of other costs in selling the products.

Costco Wholesale  (WBO:COST) Gross Margin % Explanation

Warren Buffett believes that firms with excellent long term economics tend to have consistently higher margins.

Durable competitive advantage creates a high Gross Margin % because of the freedom to price in excess of cost. Companies can be categorized by their Gross Margin %

1. Greater than 40% = Durable competitive advantage
2. Less than 40% = Competition eroding margins
3. Less than 20% = no sustainable competitive advantage
Consistency of Gross Margin is key

Costco Wholesale had a gross margin of 12.49% for the quarter that ended in Feb. 2024 => No sustainable competitive advantage

Be Aware

If a company loses its competitive advantages, usually its gross margin declines well before its sales declines. Watching Gross Margin % and Operating Margin % closely helps avoid value trap situations.

Costco Wholesale Gross Margin % Related Terms

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Costco Wholesale (WBO:COST) Business Description