AZO vs COST Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare AutoZone's high-margin auto parts retail model against Costco's membership-driven warehouse club scale.
Use this AutoZone vs Costco comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
AZO holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. COST has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+6.21% vs -19.93%), though AZO has the better forward P/E setup (16.45x vs 41.72x for COST). On fundamentals, COST is growing revenue faster (21.50%), while AZO maintains the higher operating margin (19.08%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for AZO (+36.04%) than for COST (+13.94%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | AZO | COST |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 51.9 | 63.7 |
| AI ranki | #420 | #93 |
| Latest closei | $3,200.76 | $1,003.32 |
| 1M returni | +12.57% | +10.90% |
| 3M returni | +8.23% | +7.30% |
| 6M returni | -10.54% | -0.77% |
| 1Y returni | -19.93% | +6.21% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | AZO | COST |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.31K (-16.9%) started 2025-10-23 | $10.65K (+6.5%) started 2025-10-23 |
| 5Y ago | $17.58K (+75.8%) started 2021-10-25 | $22.48K (+124.8%) started 2021-10-25 |
| 10Y ago | $42.51K (+325.1%) started 2016-10-24 | $92.12K (+821.2%) started 2016-10-24 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | AZO | COST |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $49.73B | $419.3B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 19.80 | 47.63 |
| Forward P/Ei | 16.45 | 41.72 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 1.67 |
| EV/Revenuei | 2.99 | 1.42 |
| Analyst targeti | $3,913.57 | $1,077.31 |
| Target upsidei | +36.04% | +13.94% |
| Metric | AZO | COST |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 8.40% | 21.50% |
| Earnings growthi | 7.70% | 45.50% |
| EPS growthi | +7.70% | +45.50% |
| FCF margini | +4.52% | +2.37% |
| Operating margini | 19.08% | 3.67% |
| Profit margini | 12.40% | 3.01% |
| ROIC proxyi | N/A | 29.15% |
| Return on equityi | N/A | 29.15% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 0.62% |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 26.69% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.34 | 0.86 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | 60.26 |
| Current ratioi | 0.89 | 1.07 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.10 | 0.56 |
Over the past year, AZO and COST have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.28), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | AZO | COST |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -16.86% | +6.50% |
| CAGRi | -16.89% | +6.51% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.21% | 19.77% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.61 | 0.19 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.80 | 0.27 | |
| Max drawdowni | 29.64% | 18.33% | |
| Current drawdowni | 19.33% | 8.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 15.40% | 7.42% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.62% | 9.39% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.99% | 4.21% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 14.63% | 8.96% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +75.76% | +114.47% |
| CAGRi | +11.95% | +16.50% | |
| Volatilityi | 25.30% | 22.94% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.40 | 0.59 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.55 | 0.82 | |
| Max drawdowni | 35.88% | 31.40% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.50% | 8.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 8.62% | 9.63% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.26% | 11.77% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.46% | 12.45% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 14.63% | 16.26% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +325.10% | +675.15% |
| CAGRi | +15.58% | +22.73% | |
| Volatilityi | 26.97% | 22.06% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.51 | 0.84 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.69 | 1.20 | |
| Max drawdowni | 42.14% | 31.40% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.50% | 8.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.32% | 6.97% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.08% | 9.44% | |
| Max daily dropi | 15.94% | 12.45% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.10% | 16.26% |
| Category | AZO | COST |
|---|---|---|
| Company | AZO | COST |
| Sector | Consumer Cyclical | Consumer Defensive |
| Industry | Auto Parts | Discount Stores |
| Core business | AutoZone, Inc. operates as a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. | Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Chi… |
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Volatility, Sharpe and Sortino ratios, maximum, current, and average drawdown, Ulcer Index, and worst single-day and single-week drops across every timeframe.
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