COST vs WMT
Costco and Walmart, both Consumer Defensive
Walmart is the larger company at $933B against $422B. On trailing earnings WMT is the cheaper of the two at a P/E of 36.6 against 52.3, a gap that is only a bargain if the two are growing at similar rates. Over the past year WMT returned +1.9% against -0.9% for COST.
| Figure | COST | WMT |
|---|---|---|
| Last close | $956 | $104 |
| Market cap | $422B | $933B |
| Trailing P/Elower is cheaper for the same earnings, not automatically better | 52.3 | 36.6 |
| Dividend yield | 0.5% | 0.9% |
| 1-year return | -0.9% | +1.9% |
| 5-year return | +134% | +134% |
| Ryufin Smart Scoresector-relative, 1–10 | 6/10 | 6/10 |
Figures from SEC filings and end-of-day closes. Highlighting marks the higher or lower number, which is not the same as the better investment, a low P/E can be a warning and a high one can be deserved.
Costco
Revenue of $71B in Q3 2026, net income $2.2B. Its largest reported line is Foods And Sundries, 38% of the disclosed total.
Walmart
Revenue of $178B in Q1 2027, net income $5.3B. Its largest reported line is Grocery, 59% of the disclosed total.
Open these two in the interactive comparison to add more names, change the period or read the correlation.