Head to head · SEC data as of September 11, 2026
Costco
68
Quality score · out of 100
Walmart
65
Quality score · out of 100
On paper this one is nearly a draw: Costco scores 68 and Walmart scores 65 out of 100 in our fundamental quality model. Costco wins on revenue growth (10.4% vs 5.1%), earnings growth (14.9% vs 9.3%) and less debt (-0.96× vs 0.6×).
| Metric | Costco | Walmart |
|---|---|---|
| Quality score (0-100) | 68 | 65 |
| Net margin | 3% | 3% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| ROE | 26.4% | 22.5% |
| Net debt/EBITDA | -0.96× | 0.6× |
| FCF margin | 3% | 1.8% |
| Revenue growth (annualized) | 10.4% | 5.1% |
| Earnings growth (annualized) | 14.9% | 9.3% |
TTM metrics with official SEC data, refreshed daily. Bold green marks the winner of each metric. A dash means the metric doesn't apply or isn't reliable.
Costco. Costco is a warehouse-club chain: customers pay an annual membership to buy at very low prices in large volumes. A big part of its profit comes precisely from those membership fees.
Walmart. Walmart is the world's largest retail chain by revenue. It sells everything at low prices across thousands of stores, and its online business, advertising and services carry growing weight.
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What this comparison doesn't tell you
The score measures business quality, not whether the stock is cheap or expensive: the better company can be the worse investment if you overpay. For the valuation verdict, enter each one's current price in the analyzer:
Who has the stronger fundamentals today, Costco or Walmart?
They're practically tied: Costco and Walmart score 68 and 65 out of 100 in the StockSemáforo model (profitability, growth and financial strength, built on official SEC data). The score is recomputed nightly with the latest filings.
Does that make Costco the better investment?
No. The score measures business quality, not valuation: an excellent company can trade at an excessive price and be a poor investment at that price. To find out whether it's cheap or expensive, enter its current quote in the StockSemáforo analyzer.
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Who's behind the methodology and model · how the score is computed
Data: official SEC filings (EDGAR) · Recomputed on September 11, 2026
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