COST vs FIVE
Costco Wholesale Corp /New (COST) and Five Below, Inc (FIVE) are both filed with the SEC under Retail-Variety Stores. COST is 30.4× FIVE's size by market cap ($414.5B against $13.7B); COST trades at the higher fiscal-year P/E (51.3× against 38.2×); FIVE reports the higher net margin (7.5% against 2.9%); FIVE grew sales faster over three years (+15.7% against +6.6%); and over the past year FIVE returned +61.2% against COST's +0.5%.
| COST | FIVE | |
|---|---|---|
| Last close | $945.47 | $241.89 |
| Market cap | $414.5B | $13.7B |
| P/E (FY) | 51.3× | 38.2× |
| P/S | 1.5× | 2.9× |
| EV/EBITDA | 31.6× | — |
| Gross margin | — | 23.0% |
| Operating margin | 3.8% | 9.6% |
| Net margin | 2.9% | 7.5% |
| Return on equity | 30.7% | 17.9% |
| Sales growth (3y) | +6.6% | +15.7% |
| EPS growth (3y) | +11.5% | +11.3% |
| Dividend yield | 0.5% | — |
| 1-year return | +0.5% | +61.2% |
Screener snapshot — prices as of 2026-08-28. Each side's last close is the most recent session the snapshot holds for that company, which can be an earlier one, and its 1-year return is measured to that close. Market caps struck on 2026-08-27. Last close, market cap and the 1-year return are price figures; every other row is computed over the company's latest filed fiscal year, and the two differ: COST FY2025 (ended 2025-08-31); FIVE FY2026 (ended 2026-01-31). — not published for this company. A ratio goes unpublished for more than one reason: a component the calculation needs is not on file, the filing does not tag the line it is read from, or the calculation is not defined on the filed basis — EV/EBITDA is not printed on non-positive EBITDA, and return on equity is not computed on a zero or negative equity base.
Who holds them, and who has traded them
| COST | FIVE | |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional holders (13F) | 4,201 | 626 |
| Insider buyers − sellers (180d) | -3 | -3 |
| Congressional trades disclosed (180d) | 3 | 0 |
| Executive-branch officials on file — trades disclosed (180d) | 14 | 0 |
Counts only. The congressional figures count transactions dated in the trailing 180 days and disclosed in STOCK Act periodic transaction reports; amounts are filed as ranges and are never summed. The executive-branch figures count the same window of transactions, and they are scoped to one roster. The officials OGE posts for direct download. Insider buyers − sellers counts distinct people filing open-market Form 4 purchases minus distinct people filing open-market sales over the trailing 180 days, capped at ±5.
COST vs FIVE: common questions
- Is COST bigger than FIVE?
- COST carries the larger market cap — $414.5B against $13.7B, both struck on 2026-08-27.
- Which trades at a higher P/E, COST or FIVE?
- COST, at a fiscal-year 51.3× against 38.2× for FIVE. Both are price ÷ latest full-year diluted earnings per share, not a trailing-twelve-month P/E.
- How have COST and FIVE performed over the past year?
- FIVE returned +61.2% and COST +0.5%, measured on the trailing calendar year to the last close.
- How many institutions hold COST and FIVE?
- 4,201 13F filers report a position in COST and 626 in FIVE, on the latest quarter in the panel.
- Are COST and FIVE in the same industry?
- Both are filed with the SEC under Retail-Variety Stores, which is the classification this pairing is built on.
COST overview → · FIVE overview → · COST institutional ownership → · FIVE institutional ownership → · Congress and COST → · Executive branch and COST →
More in Retail-Variety Stores: COST vs DG · COST vs DLTR · COST vs TGT · COST vs WMT
Stock comparisons lists every pair this site publishes.
Source: SPZCO — https://spzco.com/vs/cost-vs-five