COST vs INTC: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Intel Corp. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-25.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$896.48
+24.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
High Quality
VS
Intel Corp. · Technology
$127.39
-8.4% upside to fair value
Low Conviction
Grade D
QuantHub Verdict
COST has more upside to fair value
(+24.7%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
INTC |
| Current Price |
$896.48 |
$127.39 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$1,117.50 |
$116.75 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+24.7%
|
-8.4%
|
| Market Cap |
$397.6B |
$642.6B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
32.7x
|
185.2x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.3x
|
11.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
42.4x
|
229.7x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.1%
|
+25.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
17.5%
|
38.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.9%
|
0.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.0%
|
-10.8%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.62% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.36%
|
0.44%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a global network of membership-based warehouse clubs, selling branded and private-label merchandise across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, and China, supplemented by pharmacies, optical centers, food courts, hearing aid centers, tire installation, 636 gas stations, and e-com…
Intel designs and manufactures CPUs, GPUs, networking silicon, and edge and data-center products across its Client Computing, Data Center and AI, and Intel Foundry segments, employing roughly 85,100 people under CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The business quality is currently low: TTM gross margin is 38.9%, TTM operating margin is 0.1%, TTM net margin is -19.8%, and ROE is -10.8%, so the company is not earning …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
INTC |
| Zone Low |
$838.12 |
$87.56 |
| Zone High |
$949.88 |
$99.24 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|