Costco Wholesale Corporation vs Hormel Foods Corp — how do they compare? Costco Wholesale Corporation trades at $924.05 (market cap $408.78B), while Hormel Foods Corp trades at $25.3 (market cap $13.65B). The key difference: Costco Wholesale Corporation is far larger — about 29.9× Hormel Foods Corp's market cap, and Hormel Foods Corp pays the higher dividend (4.72%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| COST | HRL | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $408.78B | $13.65B |
Sector | Consumer Staples | Consumer Staples |
52-Week High | $1.09K | $29.91 |
52-Week Low | $849.63 | $19.74 |
Enterprise Value | $396.92B | $15.65B |
Dividend Yield | 0.64% | 4.72% |
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.
Hormel Foods (HRL) trades at $24.46, down 1.11% on the day, with a neutral technical outlook and mixed analyst sentiment. The company has beaten earnings estimates for three consecutive quarters, though net income margin has compressed to 3.82% in 2025 from 6.75% in 2024. Recent strategic moves include the sale of its Brazilian Ceratti operations to focus on higher-growth markets, while maintaining its Dividend King status with 60 consecutive years of dividend increases.
The stock presents a value opportunity with a P/E of 28.78 and consensus price target of $26.33 (7.6% upside), but faces margin pressure from input cost inflation and competitive headwinds. The dividend yield of approximately 4.7% provides income support, though earnings stabilization remains key for sustained recovery from multi-year lows.
Trailing returns across standard periods
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 →Hormel Foods is a protein-focused branded food company. Its brands include its namesake Hormel, Spam, Jennie-O, Dinty Moore, Applegate, Wholly Guacamole, and Skippy. The vast majority of the company's revenue is U.S.-based: 64% U.S. retail, 28% U.S. food service, and 8% international. By product type, in fiscal 2021, 23% of revenue was shelf-stable foods, 18% was poultry (branded and commodity), 55% was other perishable food, and 3% was other, primarily nutritional products. The company holds the number-one market position in shelf-stable meat, shelf-stable ready meals, pepperoni, natural/organic deli meat, and guacamole and the number-two position in turkey, bacon, chilled ready meals, and peanut butter.
Read more on HRL →