COST vs V: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Visa Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-04-20.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$999.89
-20.7% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
Visa Inc. · Financial Services
$304.36
+45.0% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A-
QuantHub Verdict
V has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
V trades at a lower forward P/E
(23.7x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
V |
| Current Price |
$999.89 |
$304.36 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$793.02 |
$441.32 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-20.7%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$443.6B |
$586.8B |
| Forward P/E |
51.9x
|
23.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
30.9x
|
22.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.6x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
48.8x
|
25.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.2%
|
+11.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
81.08%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
59.18%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.8%
|
54.22%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0.83% |
| FCF Yield |
2.05%
|
3.91%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
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…
Visa is the world's dominant payment network with $40B in net revenue (FY2025), 50%+ net margins, and a capital-light toll-booth model processing $14.2T in annual payment volume across 257.5B transactions. The business compounds at 10-12% revenue CAGR with operating leverage pushing EPS growth to 12-15% over a cycle, funded by $21.6B in annual free cash flow against only $1.5B in capex. At 28.0x …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
V |
| Zone Low |
$594.76 |
$330.99 |
| Zone High |
$674.07 |
$375.12 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|