COST vs TMO: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Thermo Fisher Scientific 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
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. · Healthcare
$464.61
+7.2% upside to fair value
Grade A
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
TMO has more upside to fair value
(+7.2%).
TMO trades at a lower forward P/E
(25.2x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
TMO |
| Current Price |
$951.45 |
$464.61 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$940.44 |
$498.27 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-1.2%
|
+7.2%
|
| Market Cap |
$421.9B |
$172.7B |
| Forward P/E |
47.8x
|
25.2x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
28.4x
|
19.1x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.4x
|
3.8x
|
| Price / FCF |
47.9x
|
25.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.6%
|
+6.2%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
39.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
17.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.3%
|
13.3%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.09%
|
3.91%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
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…
Thermo Fisher Scientific is a leading healthcare company specializing in life science tools, diagnostics, and contract research and manufacturing services. It operates with a broad, multi-layered moat driven by scale, integration, and a long-tenured management team. The company exhibits solid fundamentals with a 13.3% ROE, 6.2% revenue growth, and 9.6% earnings growth in the most recent quarter. …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
TMO |
| Zone Low |
$705.33 |
$373.70 |
| Zone High |
$799.37 |
$423.53 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|