COST vs LLY: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Eli Lilly and Company — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-01.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$999.89
-20.7% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
Eli Lilly and Company · Healthcare
$934.34
+17.6% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
LLY has more upside to fair value
(+17.6%).
LLY trades at a lower forward P/E
(33.1x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
LLY |
| Current Price |
$999.89 |
$934.34 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$793.02 |
$1,098.43 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-20.7%
|
+17.6%
|
| Market Cap |
$443.6B |
$882.8B |
| Forward P/E |
51.9x
|
33.1x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
30.9x
|
27.9x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.6x
|
12.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
48.8x
|
65.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.2%
|
+55.5%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
82.7%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
46.3%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.8%
|
101.3%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.05%
|
1.54%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a global membership-based warehouse club model that leverages scale, low costs, and superior employee retention to deliver consistent revenue and earnings growth. The company reported $269.9 billion in net sales for fiscal 2025 with an 8% year-over-year increase, driven by strong segments in Foods and Sundries and membership fees exceeding $5.65 billion in th…
Eli Lilly and Company is a leading global pharmaceutical firm with a dominant position in the diabetes and obesity markets, driven by its blockbuster GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound which generated $36.5 billion in FY2025. The company reported $65.2 billion in total revenue for 2025, making it the top pharma by revenue globally. It exhibits high business quality with a durable competitive moat …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
LLY |
| Zone Low |
$594.76 |
$823.82 |
| Zone High |
$674.07 |
$933.67 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|