GURUFOCUS.COM » STOCK LIST » Consumer Defensive » Retail - Defensive » Costco Wholesale Corp (NAS:COST) » Definitions » PE Ratio (TTM)

Costco Wholesale (COST) PE Ratio (TTM) : 58.09 (As of Dec. 14, 2024)


View and export this data going back to 1985. Start your Free Trial

What is Costco Wholesale PE Ratio (TTM)?

The PE Ratio (TTM), or Price-to-Earnings ratio, or P/E Ratio, is a financial ratio used to compare a company's market price to its Earnings per Share (Diluted). As of today (2024-12-14), Costco Wholesale's share price is $989.35. Costco Wholesale's Earnings per Share (Diluted) for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Nov. 2024 was $17.03. Therefore, Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) for today is 58.09.

Warning Sign:

Costco Wholesale Corp stock PE Ratio (=58.09) is close to 10-year high of 58.65


The historical rank and industry rank for Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) or its related term are showing as below:

COST' s PE Ratio (TTM) Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 25.79   Med: 34.78   Max: 58.65
Current: 58.09


During the past 13 years, the highest PE Ratio (TTM) of Costco Wholesale was 58.65. The lowest was 25.79. And the median was 34.78.


COST's PE Ratio (TTM) is ranked worse than
90.63% of 256 companies
in the Retail - Defensive industry
Industry Median: 16.39 vs COST: 58.09

Costco Wholesale's Earnings per Share (Diluted) for the three months ended in Nov. 2024 was $4.04. Its Earnings per Share (Diluted) for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Nov. 2024 was $17.03.

As of today (2024-12-14), Costco Wholesale's share price is $989.35. Costco Wholesale's EPS without NRI for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Nov. 2024 was $17.03. Therefore, Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio without NRI for today is 58.09.

During the past 13 years, Costco Wholesale's highest PE Ratio without NRI was 58.67. The lowest was 25.81. And the median was 35.08.

Costco Wholesale's EPS without NRI for the three months ended in Nov. 2024 was $4.04. Its EPS without NRI for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Nov. 2024 was $17.03.

During the past 12 months, Costco Wholesale's average EPS without NRI Growth Rate was 16.60% per year. During the past 3 years, the average EPS without NRI Growth Rate was 14.00% per year. During the past 5 years, the average EPS without NRI Growth Rate was 15.40% per year. During the past 10 years, the average EPS without NRI Growth Rate was 14.10% per year.

During the past 13 years, Costco Wholesale's highest 3-Year average EPS without NRI Growth Rate was 161.60% per year. The lowest was -85.10% per year. And the median was 12.80% per year.

Costco Wholesale's EPS (Basic) for the three months ended in Nov. 2024 was $4.05. Its EPS (Basic) for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Nov. 2024 was $17.07.


Costco Wholesale PE Ratio (TTM) Historical Data

The historical data trend for Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) can be seen below:

* 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.

* Premium members only.

Costco Wholesale PE Ratio (TTM) Chart

Costco Wholesale Annual Data
Trend Aug15 Aug16 Aug17 Aug18 Aug19 Aug20 Aug21 Aug22 Aug23 Aug24
PE Ratio (TTM)
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 38.54 40.42 39.73 38.79 53.89

Costco Wholesale Quarterly Data
Feb20 May20 Aug20 Nov20 Feb21 May21 Aug21 Nov21 Feb22 May22 Aug22 Nov22 Feb23 May23 Aug23 Nov23 Feb24 May24 Aug24 Nov24
PE Ratio (TTM) Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 40.40 48.65 50.18 53.89 57.07

Competitive Comparison of Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM)

For the Discount Stores subindustry, Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM), along with its competitors' market caps and PE Ratio (TTM) 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.


Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) Distribution in the Retail - Defensive Industry

For the Retail - Defensive industry and Consumer Defensive sector, Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) falls into.



Costco Wholesale PE Ratio (TTM) Calculation

The PE Ratio (TTM), or Price-to-Earnings ratio, or P/E Ratio, is a financial ratio used to compare a company's market price to its Earnings per Share (Diluted). It is the most widely used ratio in the valuation of stocks.

Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) for today is calculated as

PE Ratio (TTM)=Share Price/Earnings per Share (Diluted) (TTM)
=989.35/17.030
=58.09

Costco Wholesale's Share Price of today is $989.35.
Costco Wholesale's Earnings per Share (Diluted) for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Nov. 2024 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $17.03.

* 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.

It can also be calculated from the numbers for the whole company:

PE Ratio (TTM)=Market Cap /Net Income

There are at least three kinds of PE Ratio (TTM)s used by different investors. They are Trailing Twelve Month PE Ratio (TTM) or PE Ratio (TTM) (TTM), Forward PE Ratio, or PE Ratio without NRI. A new PE Ratio (TTM) based on inflation-adjusted normalized PE Ratio (TTM) is called Shiller PE Ratio, after Yale professor Robert Shiller.

In the calculation of PE Ratio (TTM), the earnings per share used are the earnings per share over the past 12 months. For Forward PE Ratio, the earnings are the expected earnings for the next twelve months. In the case of PE Ratio without NRI, the reported earnings less the non-recurring items are used.

For Shiller PE Ratio, the earnings of the past 10 years are inflation-adjusted and averaged. Since it looks at the average over the last 10 years, Shiller PE Ratio is also called PE10.


Costco Wholesale  (NAS:COST) PE Ratio (TTM) Explanation

The PE Ratio (TTM) can be viewed as the number of years it takes for the company to earn back the price you pay for the stock. For example, if a company earns $2 a share per year, and the stock is traded at $30, the PE Ratio (TTM) is 15. Therefore it takes 15 years for the company to earn back the $30 you paid for its stock, assuming the earnings stays constant over the next 15 years.

In real business, earnings never stay constant. If a company can grow its earnings, it takes fewer years for the company to earn back the price you pay for the stock. If a company's earnings decline it takes more years. As a shareholder, you want the company to earn back the price you pay as soon as possible. Therefore, lower P/E stocks are more attractive than higher P/E stocks so long as the PE Ratio (TTM) is positive. Also for stocks with the same PE Ratio (TTM), the one with faster growth business is more attractive.

If a company loses money, the PE Ratio (TTM) becomes meaningless.

To compare stocks with different growth rates, Peter Lynch invented a ratio called PEG Ratio. PEG Ratio is defined as the PE Ratio (TTM) divided by the growth ratio. He thinks a company with a PE Ratio (TTM) equal to its growth rate is fairly valued. Still he said he would rather buy a company growing 20% a year with a PE Ratio (TTM) of 20, instead of a company growing 10% a year with a PE Ratio (TTM) of 10.

Because the PE Ratio (TTM) measures how long it takes to earn back the price you pay, the PE Ratio (TTM) can be applied to the stocks across different industries. That is why it is the one of the most important and widely used indicators for the valuation of stocks.

Similar to the PE Ratio without NRI or PS Ratio or Price-to-Operating-Cash-Flow or Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow , the PE Ratio (TTM) measures the valuation based on the earning power of the company. This is where it is different from the PB Ratio , which measures the valuation based on the company's balance sheet.


Be Aware

Investors need to be aware that the PE Ratio (TTM) can be misleading a lot of times, especially when the underlying business is cyclical and unpredictable. As Peter Lynch pointed out, cyclical businesses have higher profit margins at the peaks of the business cycles. Their earnings are high and PE Ratio (TTM)s are artificially low. It is usually a bad idea to buy a cyclical business when the PE Ratio (TTM) is low. A better ratio to identify the time to buy a cyclical businesses is the PS Ratio .

PE Ratio (TTM) can also be affected by non-recurring-items such as the sale of part of businesses. This may increase for the current year or quarter dramatically. But it cannot be repeated over and over. Therefore PE Ratio without NRI is a more accurate indication of valuation than PE Ratio (TTM).


Costco Wholesale PE Ratio (TTM) Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Costco Wholesale's PE Ratio (TTM) provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


Costco Wholesale Business Description

Address
999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA, USA, 98027
Costco operates a membership-based, no-frills retail model, predicated on offering a select product assortment in bulk quantities at bargain prices. The firm avoids maintaining costly product displays by keeping inventory on pallets and limits distribution expenses by storing its inventory at point of sale in the warehouse. Given Costco's frugal cost structure, the firm is able to price its merchandise below competing retailers, driving high sales volume per warehouse and allowing the retailer to generate strong profits on thin margins. Costco operates over 600 warehouses in the United States and boasts over 60% market share in the domestic warehouse club industry. Internationally, Costco operates another 270 warehouses, primarily in markets such as Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the UK.
Executives
Richard A Galanti director, officer: Executive VP and CFO 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Pierre Riel officer: EVP 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Russell D Miller officer: Executive Vice President 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Caton Frates officer: Executive Vice President 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Claudine Adamo officer: Executive Vice President 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Patrick J Callans officer: Executive VP 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Susan L Decker director C/O YAHOO INC, 701 FIRST AVE, SUNNYVALE CA 94089
Kenneth D Denman director
Daniel M. Hines other: Principal Acctg Officer 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
W Craig Jelinek officer: Executive VP 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Yoram Rubananko officer: Executive VP 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
James C Klauer officer: Executive Vice President 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
Helena Foulkes director ONE CVS DRIVE, WOONSOCKET RI 02895
Roland Michael Vachris officer: Executive VP 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027
James P. Murphy officer: Executive VP 999 LAKE DRIVE, ISSAQUAH WA 98027