What if you invested in Costco in 2005?
COST · Consumer · Data through 2026-06-01
If you invested $1,000 in Costco in 2005
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $9,342(+834.2%)
The S&P 500 returned $9,342 on the same $1,000. Costco beat the market by $20,151.
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Compare Costco to another stock
See how Costco stacks up since 2005, head to head.
What if Costco keeps this up?
Project forward at Costco's 17% historical growth rate. See 5-30 year scenarios.
Growth of $1,000
Costco vs. S&P 500 vs. US Dollar, 2005 to present
Year-by-Year Returns
$1,000 invested in Costco starting January 2005
| Year | Price | Value | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | $31.72 | $1,000 | - |
| 2006 | $33.81 | $1,066 | +6.6% |
| 2007 | $38.42 | $1,211 | +13.7% |
| 2008 | $46.93 | $1,480 | +22.1% |
| 2009 | $31.42 | $991 | -33.1% |
| 2010 | $40.64 | $1,281 | +29.4% |
| 2011 | $51.52 | $1,624 | +26.8% |
| 2012 | $59.70 | $1,882 | +15.9% |
| 2013 | $80.47 | $2,537 | +34.8% |
| 2014 | $89.28 | $2,815 | +11% |
| 2015 | $114.92 | $3,623 | +28.7% |
| 2016 | $126.80 | $3,998 | +10.3% |
| 2017 | $139.15 | $4,387 | +9.7% |
| 2018 | $174.11 | $5,489 | +25.1% |
| 2019 | $193.77 | $6,109 | +11.3% |
| 2020 | $278.54 | $8,782 | +43.7% |
| 2021 | $332.52 | $10,484 | +19.4% |
| 2022 | $480.23 | $15,141 | +44.4% |
| 2023 | $489.20 | $15,423 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $685.33 | $21,607 | +40.1% |
| 2025 | $972.05 | $30,647 | +41.8% |
| 2026 | $937.61 | $29,561 | -3.5% |
What this return means
$1,000 in Costco (COST) in 2005 grew to $29,493. That works out to +2849.3%, about 29x the original stake, as of 2026-06-01.
In compound terms that is roughly 17% a year, well above what a broad index has historically returned. The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund over the same span would be about $9,342, so Costco beat the index by roughly $20,151. The index compounded at about 10.9% a year over that period.
The path was not smooth. The best single year was 2022 at +44.4%, and the worst was 2009 at -33.1%. At its lowest point the position was down about 33% from an earlier high. These figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, trading fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.
None of this is a recommendation. It is a record of what already happened, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
What if you invested $100 a month instead?
Most people do not drop a lump sum in on day one. They add a fixed amount every month. Putting $100 into Costco at the close of every month from January 2005 through June 2026 means 258 buys and $25,800 contributed over about 21.5 years.
$100/month, dollar-cost averaged
$289,943
+1,023.8% on $25,800 in
Same $25,800, all in at the start
$760,880
+2,849.1% on $25,800 in
Going all in at the start beat spreading the buys out by $470,938. That is the usual result when a stock trends up: each monthly buy pays a higher price than the last, so the average cost climbs. Averaging in also meant an average buy price of $83.24 per share across the whole stretch, so the monthly buyer never had to time a single low. Neither number counts dividends, taxes, or trading costs.
Illustrative fixed $100/month example, not a recommendation. Figures are computed from COST split-adjusted monthly closes through June 2026. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Costco at different times
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For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.