COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW vs DILLARD’S, INC., two Discount Stores stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where COST and DDS diverge most: on debt / equity, COST reads 0.17 and DDS reads 0.00; on revenue growth, COST reads +9.3% and DDS reads +0.5%. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's COST price has a different growth bar priced in than DDS (+26.8% implied for COST vs +11.4% for DDS); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What COST's price implies is a demanding bet versus history and the cohort (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | COST | DDS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $904.83 | $650.14 |
| Market cap | $402.1B | $10.2B |
| Sector | Discount Stores | Discount Stores |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +26.8% | +11.4% |
| P/E | 45.5 | 14.9 |
| P/B | 12.00 | 4.79 |
| P/S | 1.37 | 1.54 |
| EV/EBITDA | 29.9 | 52.8 |
| Revenue growth | +9.3% | +0.5% |
| Gross margin | — | 39.1% |
| Operating margin | 4.0% | — |
| Net margin | 3.0% | 10.3% |
| Return on equity | 26.4% | 32.1% |
| Return on assets | 10.2% | 18.2% |
| Return on invested capital | 22.6% | — |
| FCF yield | 2.2% | 6.3% |
| Dividend yield | 0.5% | 4.8% |
| Debt / equity | 0.17 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.07 | 3.03 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 8.53 | 10.00 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 5 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.