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 2026-04-11.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$1,002.88
-35.4% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Visa Inc. · Financial Services
$304.36
+37.7% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A-
QuantHub Verdict
V has more upside to fair value
(+37.7%).
V trades at a lower forward P/E
(23.7x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
V |
| Current Price |
$1,002.88 |
$304.36 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$648.03 |
$419.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-35.4%
|
+37.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$444.9B |
$586.8B |
| Forward P/E |
52.1x
|
23.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
31.0x
|
22.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.6x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
49.0x
|
25.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+3.4%
|
+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 |
2.04%
|
3.91%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a global membership-based warehouse club model with over 900 warehouses across 14 countries, generating $254 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat driven by scale advantages, a loyal membership base with high renewal rates, and superior employee retention through better wages and benefits. Despite steady revenue …
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 |
$486.02 |
$265.00 |
| Zone High |
$550.83 |
$300.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|