Costco Wholesale Corporation vs Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF — how do they compare? Costco Wholesale Corporation trades at $924.71 (market cap $408.78B), while Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF trades at $97.71. The key difference: Costco Wholesale Corporation pays a 0.64% dividend while Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| COST | VNQ | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $408.78B | — |
Sector | Consumer Staples | — |
52-Week High | $1.09K | $98.66 |
52-Week Low | $849.63 | $87.00 |
Enterprise Value | $396.92B | — |
Dividend Yield | 0.64% | — |
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.
VNQ (Vanguard Real Estate ETF) trades at $97.87, up 0.57% today, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages. The ETF shows strong momentum in the real estate sector, benefiting from AI-driven data center REIT performance. Recent news highlights REITs outpacing the broader market despite interest rate pressures, with VNQ being the default choice for real estate exposure.
The outlook for VNQ remains positive as real estate fundamentals strengthen, with dividends rising and M&A activity intensifying. Key risks include persistent high interest rates and inflation volatility. Wall Street sentiment is cautiously optimistic, focusing on durable income streams and sector recovery potential amid macroeconomic uncertainties.
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 →The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index, an index made up of stocks of large, mid-size, and small US companies within the real estate sector. The Advisor attempts to replicate the target index by seeking to invest all of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, in order to hold each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. It is non-diversified.
Read more on VNQ →