COST vs PANW: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-04-22.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$999.89
-19.1% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Technology
$174.96
+15.2% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
PANW has more upside to fair value
(+15.2%).
COST trades at a lower forward P/E
(51.9x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
PANW |
| Current Price |
$999.89 |
$174.96 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$808.71 |
$201.61 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-19.1%
|
+15.2%
|
| Market Cap |
$443.6B |
$119.2B |
| Forward P/E |
51.9x
|
94.9x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
30.9x
|
52.4x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.6x
|
12.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
48.8x
|
29.3x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.2%
|
+14.9%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
73.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
14.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.8%
|
15.5%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.05%
|
3.41%
|
| 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…
Palo Alto Networks is a leading cybersecurity company specializing in AI-driven cloud security platforms, subscription services, and hardware products. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat driven by its platform transformation under CEO Nikesh Arora, with over 50% of revenue from high-margin subscription services growing at 25.6% year-over-year in fiscal 2024. Despite a premium va…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
PANW |
| Zone Low |
$606.53 |
$151.21 |
| Zone High |
$687.40 |
$171.37 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|