COST vs PYPL: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and PayPal Holdings, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-06-20.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$951.45
-1.2% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$42.51
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
PYPL has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
PYPL trades at a lower forward P/E
(7.7x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$951.45 |
$42.51 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$940.44 |
$61.64 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-1.2%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$421.9B |
$37.5B |
| Forward P/E |
47.8x
|
7.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
28.4x
|
5.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.4x
|
1.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
47.9x
|
6.8x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.6%
|
+7.2%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
46.1%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
17.9%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.3%
|
25.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.09%
|
14.71%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Sell
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a membership-based warehouse club model primarily focused on merchandise sales, which constitute about 98% of its revenue, with membership fees contributing roughly 2%. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat driven by deep operational expertise, a long-tenured leadership culture, and a stable CEO succession. Despite strong revenue growth of 11.6…
PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates as a leading global digital payments platform with a competitive moat driven by its extensive network effects, brand recognition, and scale. Despite a durable business model with 2025 revenue of $33.17 billion growing at 4.3% year-over-year and a strong return on equity of 25.1%, the company faces slowing growth and margin pressures, reflected in a 13.5% decline in …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$705.33 |
$46.23 |
| Zone High |
$799.37 |
$52.39 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|