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 2026-07-08.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$947.50
-1.4% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Visa Inc. · Financial Services
$327.24
+27.8% upside to fair value
Grade A
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
V has more upside to fair value
(+27.8%).
V trades at a lower forward P/E
(28.2x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
V |
| Current Price |
$947.50 |
$327.24 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$933.84 |
$418.15 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-1.4%
|
+27.8%
|
| Market Cap |
$420.2B |
$627.3B |
| Forward P/E |
47.6x
|
28.2x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
28.3x
|
22.6x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.4x
|
14.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
47.7x
|
29.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.6%
|
+17.1%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
81.3%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
61.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.3%
|
58.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.1%
|
3.38%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates as a membership-only warehouse club offering a wide range of merchandise at low prices. The company exhibits high business quality with a durable competitive moat driven by cost advantages, strong brand loyalty, and efficient operations, reflected in a robust ROE of 28.3% and solid revenue growth of 11.6% in the most recent quarter. Despite these strengths, t…
Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that facilitates electronic funds transfers worldwide, primarily through credit and debit cards. The company benefits from a very strong and widening moat driven by its extensive global card network and acceptance infrastructure, supported by a shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy including high buybacks and dividends. Visa's business quality…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
V |
| Zone Low |
$700.38 |
$313.61 |
| Zone High |
$793.76 |
$355.43 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|