Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, discount-warehouse giant Costco Wholesale (Nasdaq: COST) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Costco's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Costco facts

Headquarters (Founded) Issaquah, Wash. (1976)
Market Cap $37.0 billion
Industry Hypermarkets and supercenters
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $88.9 billion
Management Co-Founder/CEO James Sinegal
President/COO Craig Jelinek
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 12.3%
Cash/Debt $5.61 billion / $2.32 billion
Dividend Yield 1.1%
Competitors Kroger (NYSE: KR)
Target (NYSE: TGT)
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96% of the 4,320 members who have rated Costco believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include LegendPhoenix and Raylanw.

This past summer, LegendPhoenix tapped Costco as an established way to go for growth: "This no-frills, low-cost, bulk-shopping model has done well in the US and Costco has begun expanding their stores internationally. I like Costco's core values and I think they should lead them to succeed wherever they may grow."

Over the next five years, in fact, Costco is expected to grow its bottom line at a solid rate of 13% annually. That's slightly faster than competitors like Kroger (11%), Target (11%), and Wal-Mart (10%).

CAPS member Raylanw elaborates on the Costco bull case:

This company will always do well no matter what market it's in. You purchase things in bulk, and it's much cheaper in such a fashion. Not to mention the cheap food and samples! With US sales stagnant, foreign penetration is key right now and they seem to be doing well on that front. They are still a long way away from saturating the foreign market so I can see some nice room for growth. Stalwart and on my watchlist.

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Interested in another easy way to track Costco? Add it to your watchlist.