Costco Wholesale Corporation vs Alphabet Inc Class A — how do they compare? Costco Wholesale Corporation trades at $921.74 (market cap $408.78B), while Alphabet Inc Class A trades at $368.98 (market cap $4.37T). The key difference: Alphabet Inc Class A is far larger — about 10.7× Costco Wholesale Corporation's market cap, and Costco Wholesale Corporation pays the higher dividend (0.64%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| COST | GOOGL | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $408.78B | $4.37T |
Sector | Consumer Staples | Media |
52-Week High | $1.09K | $402.62 |
52-Week Low | $849.63 | $182.00 |
Enterprise Value | $396.92B | $4.34T |
Dividend Yield | 0.64% | 0.24% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Costco (COST) trades at $923.9, down 0.27% with bearish technical signals but strong fundamentals. The stock shows consistent revenue growth, reaching $275.24B in 2025 with net income of $8.10B. Recent March sales surged 11.3% year-over-year to $28.41B, indicating robust business momentum. Analyst consensus remains strongly bullish with 65.5% buy ratings and a $1,120 price target, though valuation metrics appear elevated with P/E at 46.37.
The investment case balances premium valuation against exceptional operational execution. Membership fee increases and expanding warehouse network drive profitability, but high P/E ratio requires sustained growth. Key risks include competitive pressure and economic sensitivity, while institutional accumulation supports long-term confidence.
Alphabet (GOOGL) trades at $367.14, up 4.15% today, with a neutral technical signal and strong fundamentals. The stock shows robust profitability with a 37.92% net margin and consistent earnings beats, including Q1 2026 EPS of $5.11 versus $2.64 expected. Revenue grew to $402.84B in 2025, and operating cash flow surged to $164.71B. Analysts are overwhelmingly bullish with an 85.19% buy rating and a $431.78 consensus price target. Recent news highlights AI-driven growth opportunities, including partnerships and YouTube subscription price increases.
The outlook for GOOGL remains positive, supported by AI expansion and solid financials, but risks include antitrust scrutiny and market volatility. The stock offers upside to analyst targets, though investors should monitor competitive pressures and regulatory developments that could impact growth.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
The leading warehouse club, Costco has 815 stores worldwide (at the end of fiscal 2021), with most sales derived in the United States (72%) and Canada (14%). It sells memberships that allow customers to shop in its warehouses, which feature low prices on a limited product assortment. Costco mainly caters to individual shoppers, but roughly 20% of paid members carry business memberships. Food and sundries accounted for 40% of fiscal 2021 sales, with non-food merchandise 29%, warehouse ancillary and other businesses (such as fuel and pharmacy) nearly 17%, and fresh food 14%. Costco's warehouses average around 146,000 square feet
Read more on COST →Alphabet, the parent company of Google, earns nearly 90% of its revenue from Google services, mainly through advertising. Other revenue comes from subscriptions (YouTube TV, YouTube Music), platform sales (Play Store purchases), and devices (Pixel, Chromebooks, Chromecast). Google Cloud contributes around 10%, while investments in self-driving cars (Waymo), health (Verily), and internet access (Google Fiber) make up the rest.
Read more on GOOGL →