Costco Wholesale Corporation vs iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF — how do they compare? Costco Wholesale Corporation trades at $925.52 (market cap $408.78B), while iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF trades at $79.89. The key difference: Costco Wholesale Corporation pays a 0.64% dividend while iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| COST | IEMG | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $408.78B | — |
Sector | Consumer Staples | Broad Market / Factor |
52-Week High | $1.09K | $86.00 |
52-Week Low | $849.63 | $59.90 |
Enterprise Value | $396.92B | — |
Dividend Yield | 0.64% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Costco (COST) trades at $920.54, down 0.64% on the day, with a bearish technical signal from moving averages. The company reported revenue of $275.24 billion in 2025, with net income of $8.10 billion, and recently announced strong March sales growth of 11.3% year-over-year (GlobeNewsWire, 2026-04-08). Analyst consensus is strongly bullish with a $1,120 price target, supported by 38 buy ratings.
The stock's high P/E of 46.37 reflects premium valuation, but consistent revenue growth and membership fee increases underpin fundamentals. Risks include competitive pressures and sensitivity to consumer spending. Upside potential exists if the stock pulls back toward support levels, aligning with analyst targets.
IEMG is trading at $78.49, down 3.49% over the past 24 hours amid a bearish technical signal. The ETF has delivered strong performance with a 35% surge over the past year, driven by its 40% technology weighting and exposure to South Korean and Taiwanese semiconductor stocks. Recent news highlights record inflows into emerging markets and IEMG's cost advantage over competitors like EEM with its 0.09% expense ratio.
The outlook for IEMG remains mixed with attractive emerging market valuations and AI-driven growth potential balanced against elevated volatility and geopolitical risks. While the fund offers diversified exposure to fast-growing economies, investors face concentration risks in tech stocks and potential headwinds from US-China trade tensions that could impact performance.
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 →IEMG tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index, providing broad exposure to large, mid, and small-cap stocks across over 20 emerging market countries. It is designed as a low-cost core holding for investors seeking diversified growth from economies outside of developed markets.
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