COST vs NOW: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and ServiceNow, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-18.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$947.50
-1.4% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
ServiceNow, Inc. · Technology
$103.24
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
NOW has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
COST trades at a lower forward P/E
(47.6x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
NOW |
| Current Price |
$947.50 |
$103.24 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$933.84 |
$149.70 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-1.4%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$420.2B |
$106.5B |
| Forward P/E |
47.6x
|
61.1x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
28.3x
|
32.9x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.4x
|
7.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
47.7x
|
23.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.6%
|
+22.1%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
76.6%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
13.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.3%
|
15.0%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.1%
|
4.35%
|
| 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…
ServiceNow, Inc. operates in the technology sector specializing in software applications, delivering high-quality enterprise cloud solutions with a durable competitive moat evidenced by a 15% return on equity and strong gross margins of 76.6%. The company is currently in an investing growth phase with 22.1% revenue growth in the most recent quarter, although earnings growth is modest at 2.0%. Des…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
NOW |
| Zone Low |
$700.38 |
$112.27 |
| Zone High |
$793.76 |
$127.24 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|