COST vs WMT
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW and Walmart Inc., side by side on the measures that account for debt and cash — each built from filed accounts.
Side by side
The two diverge most on net debt / ebitda: −1.1× for COST against 0.6× for WMT. Whether that gap is justified is a judgement this page does not make.
| Measure | COST | WMT | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| EV / EBITDA* | 30.3× | 19.6× | 10.7× |
| EV / Sales* | 1.4× | 1.2× | 1.2× |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.1× | 0.6× | 0.6× |
| Return on capital | 26.5% | 21.6% | 21.6% |
| Operating margin | 3.8% | 4.2% | 4.9% |
| Free cash flow margin | 2.8% | 2.1% | 2.8% |
Green marks the reading conventionally read as cheaper or stronger on that row — a direction, not a recommendation, and the two companies frequently win different rows. * Price-based multiples are a snapshot taken 2026-09-09; the rest come from filed accounts. A dash means the measure could not be computed — each company page says why.
The full picture
This page compares two companies on ratios. Neither ratio table shows what it would cost to buy either business, how that cost is built, or which filing each term came from — those are on the company pages.