Overview
Costco Wholesale operates membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries and reports three geographic segments: United States, Canada and Other International.[2] Forbes records it was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington.[8] Its Forbes sales of US$286.3bn rose 8.4% on the prior-year figure, keeping it third, and profit was US$8.5bn.[2] The warehouse-club model sells a limited range of goods in bulk to fee-paying members, which gives Costco high sales per employee: about US$840,000 on Forbes figures, roughly two-and-a-half times Walmart’s ratio.[2] Its market value of US$465.4bn is the third-highest in the ranking, after Amazon and Walmart and ahead of Alibaba.[2]
Costco Wholesale strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Third-largest sales
- High sales per employee
- Sales growth of 8.4%
Limitations
- Profit margin about 3%
- Limited product range
- Concentrated in North America
Appears in
- Largest Companies in the World by Revenue (2026) #20
- Largest Employers in the US (2026) #14
- Largest Retailers in the World (2026) #3
Costco Wholesale peers and competitors
Companies ranked in the same lists as Costco Wholesale.
- Amazon
Walmart- CVS Health
- Home Depot
- Lowe’s
- Berkshire Hathaway
JPMorgan Chase
Target
Kroger- TJX Companies
- UnitedHealth Group
Microsoft Power BI
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