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 2026-05-05.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$999.89
-19.1% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$50.39
+110.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
PYPL has more upside to fair value
(+110.0%).
PYPL trades at a lower forward P/E
(9.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$999.89 |
$50.39 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$808.71 |
$105.84 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-19.1%
|
+110.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$443.6B |
$45.3B |
| Forward P/E |
51.9x
|
9.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
30.9x
|
6.1x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.6x
|
1.4x
|
| Price / FCF |
48.8x
|
8.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.2%
|
+3.7%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
46.6%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
18.3%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.8%
|
25.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.05%
|
12.27%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Sell
|
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…
PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates as a leading digital payments platform offering transaction processing and value-added financial services such as consumer credit and BNPL products. The business quality is medium due to a narrowing competitive moat amid increasing pressure from big tech competitors and slowing growth in its core branded checkout segment. The stock is currently mispriced and cheap, …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$606.53 |
$79.38 |
| Zone High |
$687.40 |
$89.96 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|