World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 · Second Global Mega Edition
#18 Costco
Costco ranks #18 in the WCRC World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026, with a WCRC Power Score of 79.43. Its strength is loyalty: 84.1 million paid members renew at 89.8% worldwide, giving Costco the fourth-highest Consumer Trust & Sentiment score of all 100 brands.
Five WCRC pillars, 50 parameters, each scored 0 to 100 against global sector peers. The pillar weights set how much each one counts toward the Power Score.
Brand Positioning & Recall28%82.5
Consumer Trust & Sentiment26%84.7
Product, Innovation & Delivery20%78.8
Sustainability, Governance & ESG16%69.8
Digital Presence & Financial Soundness10%73.8
P1 · Brand Positioning & Recall 82.5 · weight 28%
Positioning Clarity & Coherence94
Unaided Brand Recall80
Top-of-Mind Awareness (TOMA)82
Brand Differentiation Index88
Campaign Effectiveness & Recall60
Brand Personality Coherence88
Share of Voice vs Share of Market85
Cultural & Contextual Relevance84
Brand Extension Credibility88
Visual Identity Distinctiveness76
How the Power Score adds up
Each pillar's score multiplied by its WCRC weight. The segments sum to 79.43.
Costco is powerful because its members keep coming back, year after year, and pay for the privilege. In the WCRC World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 its strongest pillar is Consumer Trust & Sentiment at 84.7, the fourth-highest of all 100 brands and the best of any retailer, led by Consumer Loyalty & Retention Proxy at 95. At the end of fiscal 2026 Costco had 84.1 million paid memberships and 150.4 million cardholders, with renewal rates of 92.3% in the United States and Canada and 89.8% worldwide.
The promise is simple and Costco keeps it. Brand Positioning & Recall scores 82.5, with Positioning Clarity & Coherence at 94: quality goods at the lowest sustainable price, sold from about 4,000 carefully chosen items. Brand Promise Delivery Consistency scores 92. The US$1.50 hot dog combo, unchanged since 1985, has become shorthand for that discipline, and Kirkland Signature has grown into a brand people trust on its own.
The numbers follow. Total revenue rose 10.1% to US$303.2bn in the year to 30 August 2026, operating income reached US$11.7bn and net income US$9.2bn. Comparable sales grew 8.4% for the year and digitally enabled sales 20.9%. Costco ran 939 warehouses in 14 countries and plans 967 by the end of fiscal 2027. The trade-off is visible in Digital Presence & Financial Soundness at 73.8: Costco buys almost no advertising and its online business is still small, so growth depends on word of mouth and new warehouses.
Why Costco ranks #18
Costco's three highest-rated strengths all come from the membership model: people renew, they know exactly what they are paying for, and Costco delivers it every visit.
2.06Consumer Loyalty & Retention Proxy95
Consumer Loyalty & Retention Proxy: 89.8% of members renewed worldwide in fiscal 2026, and 92.3% in the United States and Canada.
1.01Positioning Clarity & Coherence94
Positioning Clarity & Coherence: quality at the lowest sustainable price, through a paid membership and a short list of items, is a position every shopper can describe.
3.04Brand Promise Delivery Consistency92
Brand Promise Delivery Consistency: the US$1.50 hot dog combo has not changed price since 1985, and comparable sales still rose 8.4% in fiscal 2026.
The Achilles' heel
5.08Brand Investment in Marketing50
Brand Investment in Marketing scores 50, Costco's lowest result. This is a choice: Costco buys almost no advertising and has no public relations department, relying on members to spread the word.
What would move it: Costco does not need mass advertising, but more investment in owned digital channels, its app and member communications would lift this score without changing the model.
The 2026 story
Costco closed fiscal 2026 on 30 August with total revenue of US$303.2bn, up 10.1%, and net income of US$9.2bn. Fourth-quarter comparable sales rose 9.4%, and digitally enabled comparable sales climbed 19.5% as more members shopped through the app and website.
Tariffs shaped the year. Costco sued the US government in November 2025 seeking full refunds of IEEPA tariffs, and refunds received in the fourth quarter added US$0.15 to earnings per share, part of which it passed on to members. The company opened its 939th warehouse and plans 28 more by the end of fiscal 2027.
The risks are smaller than the strengths but real. In 2025 the US EPA fined Costco about US$3.07m over unregistered pesticides, and California fined it and its contractors about US$868,000 for misclassifying delivery drivers. Competition for value-seeking shoppers from Walmart's Sam's Club and Amazon remains intense.
Five-year comparison
Official figures as reported, USD m. Costco Wholesale Corporation consolidated total revenue (net sales plus membership fees), fiscal years ending late August or early September; FY2023 had 53 weeks. The brand is the company.
+34%Revenue, FY2022 to FY2026
7.5%Annual growth
3.9%Operating margin, FY2026
+0.4 ptsMargin change
Bars: revenue · line: operating margin
Year
Revenue
Operating income
Margin
FY2022
226,954
7,793
3.4%
FY2023
242,290
8,114
3.3%
FY2024
254,453
9,285
3.6%
FY2025
275,235
10,383
3.8%
FY2026
303,154
11,685
3.9%
WCRC analysis
Total revenue grew every year, from US$227.0bn in fiscal 2022 to US$303.2bn in fiscal 2026, an increase of 34%. The fastest year was the last: revenue rose 10.1% in fiscal 2026 as comparable sales and digital orders accelerated.
Operating income grew faster than sales, up 50% to US$11.7bn, lifting the margin from 3.4% to 3.9%. For a retailer that caps its markups, that is a sign of scale and of membership fees doing their job. Members pay before they shop, which steadies profit and funds low prices, and that loop is the core of Costco's brand power.
Not quite. Costco ranks #18 in the WCRC World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026, second among retail brands to Amazon at #9 and ahead of IKEA at #24 and Walmart at #69.
What rank is Costco in the WCRC World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026?
Costco is ranked #18 in the Second Global Mega Edition, with a WCRC Power Score of 79.43.
What is Costco's biggest strength?
Member loyalty. Consumer Loyalty & Retention Proxy scores 95, backed by an 89.8% worldwide renewal rate in fiscal 2026.
What is Costco's weakest area?
Brand Investment in Marketing, at 50, because Costco deliberately spends almost nothing on advertising.
Who runs Costco in 2026?
Ron Vachris has been President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2024, succeeding Craig Jelinek. Costco is a listed company on Nasdaq.
About this assessment
The WCRC Power Score is WCRC's own assessment under the WCRC Brand Value Research Methodology (2026 Edition): 50 parameters across five weighted pillars, each scored 0 to 100 against global sector peers. Read the methodology.
