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 2026-07-17.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$947.50
-1.4% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Eli Lilly and Company · Healthcare
$1,179.09
+31.7% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
LLY has more upside to fair value
(+31.7%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
LLY |
| Current Price |
$947.50 |
$1,179.09 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$933.84 |
$1,552.32 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-1.4%
|
+31.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$420.2B |
$1,110.4B |
| Forward P/E |
47.6x
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
28.3x
|
34.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.4x
|
14.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
47.7x
|
77.7x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.6%
|
+55.5%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
83.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
45.9%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.3%
|
101.3%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0.55% |
| FCF Yield |
2.1%
|
1.29%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates as a membership-only warehouse club offering a wide range of merchandise at low prices. The company exhibits high business quality with a durable competitive moat driven by cost advantages, strong brand loyalty, and efficient operations, reflected in a robust ROE of 28.3% and solid revenue growth of 11.6% in the most recent quarter. Despite these strengths, t…
Eli Lilly is a global biopharma company whose exceptionally profitable cardiometabolic franchises, led by Mounjaro and Zepbound, are driving a high-quality growth phase: revenue rose 55.5% year over year and earnings rose 168.0% year over year in the most recent quarter, while gross, operating, and net margins were 83.5%, 45.9%, and 35.0%, respectively. Business quality is high because tirzepatid…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
LLY |
| Zone Low |
$700.38 |
$1,164.24 |
| Zone High |
$793.76 |
$1,319.47 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|