COST vs TGT
Costco Wholesale Corp. and Target Corp., side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | COST | TGT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $275.2B | $104.8B |
| Net income | $8.1B | $3.7B |
| Gross margin | 12.8% | 27.9% |
| Net margin | 2.9% | 3.5% |
| Return on equity | 30.7% | 24.0% |
| Diluted EPS | $18.21 | $8.13 |
| Dividend / share | $4.92 | $4.54 |
| Payout ratio | 27.0% | 55.4% |
| Free cash flow | $7.8B | $2.8B |
| Equity | $29.2B | $16.2B |
| Net debt / equity | −0.29× | 0.55× |
| Current ratio | 1.03× | 0.94× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 10.5% | 2.3% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | 15.1% | −3.2% |
COST bills 2.6× the revenue of TGT, and TGT 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 | TGT |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $275.2B | $104.8B |
| FY2024 | $254.5B | $106.6B |
| FY2023 | $242.3B | $107.4B |
| FY2022 | $227.0B | $109.1B |
| FY2021 | $195.9B | $106.0B |
| FY2020 | $166.8B | $93.6B |
| FY2019 | $152.7B | $78.1B |
| FY2018 | $141.6B | $75.4B |
| FY2017 | $129.0B | $72.7B |
| FY2016 | $118.7B | $70.3B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | COST | TGT |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $8.1B | $3.7B |
| FY2024 | $7.4B | $4.1B |
| FY2023 | $6.3B | $4.1B |
| FY2022 | $5.8B | $2.8B |
| FY2021 | $5.0B | $6.9B |
| FY2020 | $4.0B | $4.4B |
| FY2019 | $3.7B | $3.3B |
| FY2018 | $3.1B | $2.9B |
| FY2017 | $2.7B | $2.9B |
| FY2016 | $2.4B | $2.7B |
18 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +$170,455,000,000 | COST |
| FY2024 | +$147,887,000,000 | COST |
| FY2023 | +$134,878,000,000 | COST |
| FY2022 | +$117,834,000,000 | COST |
| FY2021 | +$89,924,000,000 | COST |
| FY2020 | +$73,200,000,000 | COST |
| FY2019 | +$74,591,000,000 | COST |
| FY2018 | +$66,220,000,000 | COST |
| FY2017 | +$56,311,000,000 | COST |
| FY2016 | +$48,448,000,000 | COST |
| FY2015 | +$42,414,000,000 | COST |
| FY2014 | +$40,022,000,000 | COST |
| FY2013 | +$33,877,000,000 | COST |
| FY2012 | +$25,836,000,000 | COST |
| FY2011 | +$19,050,000,000 | COST |
| FY2010 | +$10,556,000,000 | COST |
| FY2009 | +$6,065,000,000 | COST |
| FY2008 | +$7,535,000,000 | COST |
COST has reported the higher revenue in every one of these 18 fiscal years. The gap has widened since the earliest year compared.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
10 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −0.6 pp | TGT |
| FY2024 | −0.9 pp | TGT |
| FY2023 | −1.3 pp | TGT |
| FY2022 | +0.1 pp | COST |
| FY2021 | −4.0 pp | TGT |
| FY2020 | −2.2 pp | TGT |
| FY2011 | −2.5 pp | TGT |
| FY2010 | −2.6 pp | TGT |
| FY2009 | −2.3 pp | TGT |
| FY2008 | −1.6 pp | TGT |
The higher net margin has changed hands between COST and TGT over this period.
10 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
TGT's net margin has been more volatile than COST's over the 10 comparable fiscal years — 1.0 percentage points of standard deviation against 0.5.
10 of 19 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 TGT over these 10 fiscal years — COST led in 1 and TGT in 9.
10 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
TGT's return on equity has been more volatile than COST's over the 18 comparable fiscal years — 11.8 percentage points of standard deviation against 6.6.
18 of 19 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 TGT over these 18 fiscal years — COST led in 6 and TGT in 12.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.