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 2026-09-25.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$896.48
+24.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
High Quality
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$52.71
+9.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B-
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 |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$896.48 |
$52.71 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$1,117.50 |
$57.50 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+24.7%
|
+9.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$397.6B |
$45.1B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
32.7x
|
6.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.3x
|
1.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
42.4x
|
7.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.1%
|
+4.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
17.5%
|
45.8%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.9%
|
18.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.0%
|
24.4%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.62% |
1.06% |
| FCF Yield |
2.36%
|
13.97%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Hold
|
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…
PayPal operates a global digital-payments platform spanning branded checkout, Venmo, Braintree merchant processing, credit products and fraud-risk infrastructure across approximately 200 markets. Business quality is medium: its two-sided network, trusted brand, broad merchant distribution and risk capabilities remain meaningful assets, but its highest-value branded-checkout franchise is under com…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$838.12 |
$43.12 |
| Zone High |
$949.88 |
$48.88 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|