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 2026-07-08.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$947.50
-1.4% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Technology
$287.78
+2.9% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
PANW has more upside to fair value
(+2.9%).
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 |
PANW |
| Current Price |
$947.50 |
$287.78 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$933.84 |
$296.19 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-1.4%
|
+2.9%
|
| Market Cap |
$420.2B |
$196.1B |
| Forward P/E |
47.6x
|
248.9x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
28.3x
|
85.9x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.4x
|
18.5x
|
| Price / FCF |
47.7x
|
45.7x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.6%
|
+31.1%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
71.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
9.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.3%
|
6.3%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.1%
|
2.19%
|
| 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…
Palo Alto Networks is a leading cybersecurity company specializing in next-generation security platforms with a strong subscription and support revenue base comprising approximately 81% of total revenue. The company benefits from a wide and expanding competitive moat driven by its AI- and platform-driven cybersecurity solutions, led by a seasoned management team. Despite strong revenue growth of …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
PANW |
| Zone Low |
$700.38 |
$222.14 |
| Zone High |
$793.76 |
$251.76 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|