COST vs DG
Costco Wholesale Corp. and Dollar General Corp., side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | COST | DG |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $275.2B | $42.7B |
| Net income | $8.1B | $1.5B |
| Gross margin | 12.8% | 30.7% |
| Net margin | 2.9% | 3.5% |
| Return on equity | 30.7% | 19.0% |
| Diluted EPS | $18.21 | $6.85 |
| Dividend / share | $4.92 | $2.36 |
| Payout ratio | 27.0% | 34.4% |
| Free cash flow | $7.8B | $2.4B |
| Equity | $29.2B | $8.5B |
| Net debt / equity | −0.29× | 0.40× |
| Current ratio | 1.03× | 1.13× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 10.5% | 4.8% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | 15.1% | −10.6% |
COST bills 6.4× the revenue of DG, and DG keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (3.5% against 2.9%).
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
10 years side by side
| Fiscal year | COST | DG |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $275.2B | $42.7B |
| FY2024 | $254.5B | $40.6B |
| FY2023 | $242.3B | $38.7B |
| FY2022 | $227.0B | $37.8B |
| FY2021 | $195.9B | $34.2B |
| FY2020 | $166.8B | $33.7B |
| FY2019 | $152.7B | $27.8B |
| FY2018 | $141.6B | $25.6B |
| FY2017 | $129.0B | $23.5B |
| FY2016 | $118.7B | $22.0B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | COST | DG |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $8.1B | $1.5B |
| FY2024 | $7.4B | $1.1B |
| FY2023 | $6.3B | $1.7B |
| FY2022 | $5.8B | $2.4B |
| FY2021 | $5.0B | $2.4B |
| FY2020 | $4.0B | $2.7B |
| FY2019 | $3.7B | $1.7B |
| FY2018 | $3.1B | $1.6B |
| FY2017 | $2.7B | $1.5B |
| FY2016 | $2.4B | $1.3B |
17 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +$232,510,631,000 | COST |
| FY2024 | +$213,840,692,000 | COST |
| FY2023 | +$203,598,391,000 | COST |
| FY2022 | +$189,109,137,000 | COST |
| FY2021 | +$161,708,551,000 | COST |
| FY2020 | +$133,014,161,000 | COST |
| FY2019 | +$124,949,027,000 | COST |
| FY2018 | +$115,950,957,000 | COST |
| FY2017 | +$105,554,033,000 | COST |
| FY2016 | +$96,732,402,000 | COST |
| FY2015 | +$95,830,438,000 | COST |
| FY2014 | +$93,730,412,000 | COST |
| FY2013 | +$87,651,833,000 | COST |
| FY2012 | +$83,114,872,000 | COST |
| FY2011 | +$74,107,812,000 | COST |
| FY2010 | +$64,911,000,000 | COST |
| FY2009 | +$59,625,620,000 | COST |
COST has reported the higher revenue in every one of these 17 fiscal years. The gap has widened since the earliest year compared.
17 of 18 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
11 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −0.6 pp | DG |
| FY2024 | +0.1 pp | COST |
| FY2023 | −1.7 pp | DG |
| FY2022 | −3.8 pp | DG |
| FY2021 | −4.4 pp | DG |
| FY2020 | −5.4 pp | DG |
| FY2019 | −3.7 pp | DG |
| FY2018 | −4.0 pp | DG |
| FY2017 | −4.5 pp | DG |
| FY2016 | −3.7 pp | DG |
| FY2015 | −3.6 pp | DG |
The higher net margin has changed hands between COST and DG over this period.
11 of 18 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
DG's net margin has been more volatile than COST's over the 11 comparable fiscal years — 1.5 percentage points of standard deviation against 0.3.
11 of 18 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in net margin changed hands between COST and DG over these 11 fiscal years — COST led in 1 and DG in 10.
11 of 18 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
DG's return on equity has been more volatile than COST's over the 17 comparable fiscal years — 8.3 percentage points of standard deviation against 6.5.
17 of 18 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in return on equity changed hands between COST and DG over these 17 fiscal years — COST led in 5 and DG in 12.
17 of 18 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.