How much a stock’s price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you’d invested in Costco (COST) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to COST for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

With that in mind, let’s take a look at Costco’s main business drivers.

Based in Issaquah, Washington, Costco Wholesale Corporation sells high volumes of foods and general merchandise (including household products and appliances) at discounted prices through membership warehouses. It is one of the largest warehouse club operators in the United States. The company also operates e-commerce sites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.

The company’s warehouses offer an array of low-priced nationally branded and select private-labeled products in a wide range of merchandise categories. Costco offers three types of memberships to its customers: Business, Gold Star (individual), and Executive.

As of Jan. 15, 2026, Costco operates 923 warehouses, including 633 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 114 in Canada, 42 in Mexico, 37 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 20 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, seven in China, five in Spain, three in France, two in Sweden, and one each in Iceland, and New Zealand.

Costco generates revenue from two sources: 1) Store sales (Net sales; 98% of fiscal 2025 total revenue) and 2) Membership fees (MFI; 2% of fiscal 2025 total revenue).

Costco offers a myriad of food products as well as a vast range of household and lifestyle products, stationeries and appliances. The company also sells gasoline to customers at cheap prices. It offers merchandise in the following categories:

Food and Sundries (including dry foods, packaged foods, groceries, snack foods, candy, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and
cleaning supplies)

Hardlines (including major appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, and garden and patio)

Fresh Foods (including meat, produce, deli, and bakery)

Softlines (including apparel and small appliances)

Ancillary (including gasoline and pharmacy businesses).

While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Costco ten years ago, you’re probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.