COST vs TTD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and The Trade Desk, 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
The Trade Desk, Inc. · Communication Services
$14.26
-1.8% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
High Quality
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 |
TTD |
| Current Price |
$896.48 |
$14.26 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$1,117.50 |
$14.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+24.7%
|
-1.8%
|
| Market Cap |
$397.6B |
$6.7B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
32.7x
|
7.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.3x
|
2.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
42.4x
|
7.8x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.1%
|
+3.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
17.5%
|
83.0%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.9%
|
19.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.0%
|
16.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.62% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.36%
|
12.89%
|
| 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…
The Trade Desk operates a self-service, cloud-based demand-side platform that lets advertising agencies and their advertiser clients plan, buy and optimize data-driven digital campaigns across display, video, audio, native, social and connected TV, with 3,843 employees and a founder-led management team. Business quality is genuinely high on the unit economics: TTM gross margin of 83.0%, TTM opera…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
TTD |
| Zone Low |
$838.12 |
$10.50 |
| Zone High |
$949.88 |
$11.90 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|