With fiscal 2025 (ended Aug. 31) net sales of $270 billion, Costco (COST +1.14%) is one of the power players in the global retail market. Charlie Munger, long-time right-hand man to Warren Buffett, never sold a share in the business. That's high praise.
This retail stock's price has risen 540% in the past decade, even though it's trading 9% below its peak (as of Jan. 23). Investors should keep the business on their radar. Here are three important metrics to know about Costco.
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1. Same-store sales
The first data point that must be tracked is same-store sales (SSS), which measure organic revenue growth from each location, typically over a year-long timeframe. This is the purest test of management's ability to pick the right locations, boost foot traffic, increase spending, and run things efficiently.
Costco has a fantastic track record of positive SSS that likely goes back a very long time. The last few years are telling. In the last six fiscal years (including 2020 through 2025), SSS grew. The facts of a global pandemic, supply chain bottlenecks, record inflation, rising interest rates, and weak consumer confidence today didn't matter.
The company's ability to keep the positive momentum going in any economic situation highlights how stable demand is.
2. Membership renewal rates
Costco doesn't let just anyone walk into its stores. People must pay annual fees to have the right to shop at the company's massive warehouses. Costco has 81.4 million members, a figure that has consistently increased over time. This generates a high-margin and recurring revenue stream that totaled $1.3 billion in first-quarter 2026 (ended Nov. 23, 2025).
Investors should pay attention to the membership renewal rate, which was 92.2% in the U.S. and Canada and 89.7% worldwide in Q1. This indicates satisfaction levels, but the numbers were down slightly from fourth-quarter 2025 due to there being more digital-signed members not renewing.
"Our goal is to continue to improve renewal rates by improving engagement with members who signed up digitally," CFO Gary Millerchip said on the Q1 2026 earnings call.
NASDAQ: COST
Key Data Points
3. New warehouse openings
There are 921 Costco warehouses around the world. Despite this massive footprint, the leadership team still sees plenty of opportunities to expand. Costco will add 28 net new locations in fiscal 2026. Management wants to get to a pace of opening 30 or more every year, with half in the U.S.
Obviously, a higher number of stores will mean Costco is building the foundation to generate much greater revenue in the future. That's exactly what investors want to see. Warehouses opened in fiscal 2025 collected, on average, $192 million in annualized net sales, up 28% from those opened in fiscal 2023. It's clear that Costco has refined its expansion strategy.
Investors are now more knowledgeable about this dominant retailer from a fundamental perspective.
