No material news briefings were available for Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) in the 30 days preceding this report's generation date of 2026-07-19. The principal driver of this report is a set of material institutional position changes identified in recent 13F filings, as detailed in the holdings section below [Brief - 2026-07-11].
Costco reported trailing twelve-month revenue of $293.6 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 11.6%, with net income of $8.8 billion over the same period [SEC 10-Q - COST - 2026-05-10]. Gross margin stood at 5.61% and operating margin at 3.82%, consistent with the company's membership-based, high-volume, low-margin business model. Net margin was 3.01%. The company held $18.9 billion in cash against total debt of $5.7 billion. EPS grew 15.2% year-over-year. The price-to-earnings ratio was recorded at 47.33, with market capitalisation at approximately $417.3 billion [SEC 10-Q - COST - 2026-05-10].
Insider activity recorded two transactions in July 2026, both disposals, with a net sold value of approximately $847,345 [SEC Form 4 - COST - 2026-07]. On the institutional side, four notable managers opened new positions in COST during the most recent reporting period: Citadel (Ken Griffin), AQR Capital (Cliff Asness), Millennium (Izzy Englander), and Bridgewater (Ray Dalio) each initiated positions for the first time [SEC 13F - Citadel - Q2 2026] [SEC 13F - AQR Capital - Q2 2026] [SEC 13F - Millennium - Q2 2026] [SEC 13F - Bridgewater - Q2 2026]. These four simultaneous new entries across distinct institutional mandates represent the material ownership changes that triggered this report.
The prevailing macro environment shows the 10-year US Treasury yield at 4.57% and the 2-year at 4.16%, producing a normal yield curve spread of 41 basis points [FRED DGS10] [FRED DGS2]. A positively sloped yield curve of this magnitude reflects current fixed-income market conditions against which equity valuations across consumer discretionary and staples sectors are being assessed by market participants.