COST vs LULU: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Lululemon Athletica Inc. — 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
Lululemon Athletica Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$98.06
+1.5% upside to fair value
Low Conviction
Grade C
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 |
LULU |
| Current Price |
$896.48 |
$98.06 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$1,117.50 |
$99.50 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+24.7%
|
+1.5%
|
| Market Cap |
$397.6B |
$11.1B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
32.7x
|
4.6x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.3x
|
1.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
42.4x
|
8.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.1%
|
-4.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
17.5%
|
56.1%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.9%
|
17.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.0%
|
29.7%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.62% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.36%
|
12.24%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Sell
|
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…
Lululemon Athletica designs and retails premium athletic apparel and accessories through company-owned stores and direct-to-consumer channels, with roughly 39,000 employees and a brand built on technical fabrics and community-led fitness positioning. The business still earns high returns on equity of 29.7% and generates $12.00 of free cash flow per share on $97.70 of revenue per share, with TTM g…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
LULU |
| Zone Low |
$838.12 |
$74.62 |
| Zone High |
$949.88 |
$84.58 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|