Costco Wholesale Corporation vs Northrop Grumman Corporation — how do they compare? Costco Wholesale Corporation trades at $946.61 (market cap $420.05B), while Northrop Grumman Corporation trades at $479.1 (market cap $68.83B). The key difference: Costco Wholesale Corporation is far larger — about 6.1× Northrop Grumman Corporation's market cap, and Northrop Grumman Corporation pays the higher dividend (2.04%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals — on Pluang, investors hold Costco Wholesale Corporation for 133 Days and Northrop Grumman Corporation for 81 Days on average.
| COST | NOC | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $420.05B | $68.83B |
Volume | 2,087,565 | 1,081,989 |
Sector | Consumer Staples | Industrials |
52-Week High | $1.09K | $768.02 |
52-Week Low | $849.63 | $473.46 |
Typical Hold Time | 133 Days | 81 Days |
Enterprise Value | $407.33B | $82.81B |
Dividend Yield | 0.62% | 2.04% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
COST trades at $944.20, up 0.21% on the day, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages but overbought RSI readings. The company reported strong March 2026 sales growth of 11.3% year-over-year (Costco Wholesale Corporation, April 8, 2026) and has shown consistent revenue and net income growth, with fiscal 2025 revenue at $275.24B and net income at $8.10B. Analyst consensus is strongly bullish with a $1,100 price target, though valuation ratios like a P/E of 45.66 are elevated.
The outlook remains positive due to robust membership fee growth and expansion, but risks include high valuation sensitivity and competitive pressures. Upside is supported by strong institutional buying and earnings beats, though any market pullback could pressure the stock given its premium multiples.
Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades at $480.85, up 1.56% with recent earnings beats but faces technical bearish signals. The company maintains strong fundamentals with $41.95B revenue, 10.48% net margin, and attractive valuation at 15.4 P/E. Recent news highlights both contract wins and competitive losses, including Boeing's $20B Navy fighter award.
Outlook remains positive with analyst consensus at $600.62 target (25% upside) and 54% buy ratings. Key risks include defense contract volatility and competitive pressures, while strong backlog ($104.7B) and dividend growth support long-term value. The stock offers defensive exposure to elevated defense spending cycles.
Trailing returns across standard periods
What Pluang investors did over the last 30 days
No sentiment data available yet.
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 →Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that is diversified across short-cycle and long-cycle businesses. The firm's segments include aeronautics, mission systems, defense services, and space systems. The company's aerospace segment creates the fuselage for the massive F-35 program and produces various piloted and autonomous flight systems. Mission systems creates a variety of sensors and processors for defense hardware. The defense systems segment is a long-range missile manufacturer. Finally, the company's space systems segment produces various space structures, sensors, and satellites.
Read more on NOC →