How comparing works here

How do I compare two companies?

Type the tickers into the box above — up to five at once. Every row is read from the companies' own annual filings, so a comparison shows the same measure computed the same way for each of them rather than whatever each company chose to highlight.

Can I compare an ETF with a stock?

Yes, and the table changes to suit. Two funds are compared on cost, income, spread and record, because revenue growth and debt mean nothing for a fund. A fund against a company shows only what both of them have.

Side by side

Compare

Put up to 4 companies, funds, commodities or coins next to each other — health, valuation, growth and performance.

Every row is computed the same way for every column, from each company's own annual filing, so a comparison is not a collection of whichever figures each of them chose to put in a press release. Funds are compared on what a fund is actually judged on: cost, income, spread and record.

Relative performance

Rebased so every symbol starts at 0%

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Side by side

Latest annual figures from each company's filings

MetricDGDOLLAR GENERAL CORPWMTWalmart Inc.COSTCOSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEWTGTTARGET CORPMedian of the restexcluding DG
TypeCompanyCompanyCompanyCompany
Price
$139.11▲ 6.99 (5.29%)
$121.12▲ 3.32 (2.82%)
$1018.21▲ 19.90 (1.99%)
$158.11▲ 5.73 (3.76%)
Health scoreComposite of profitability, growth, debt and accounting quality.7.3/108.0/108.0/106.0/108.0/10
Market value$30.64B$965.62B$451.34B$71.60B
Revenue$42.72B$706.41B$303.15B$104.78B
Profit$1.51B$21.89B$9.23B$3.71B
Revenue growthChange in sales versus the prior year.5.2%4.7%10.1%-1.7%4.7%
Gross marginShare of sales left after the direct cost of producing them.30.7%24.2%12.8%27.9%24.2%
Operating marginShare of sales left after running the business, before interest and tax.5.2%4.2%3.9%4.9%4.2%
Profit marginProfit kept from each dollar of sales.3.5%3.1%3.0%3.5%3.1%
Free cash flow marginCash left after capital spending, as a share of sales.5.6%2.1%3.1%2.7%2.7%
Return on equityProfit against the owners' stake in the company.17.8%22.0%25.8%22.9%22.9%
Return on invested capital (approx.)Operating profit after tax against equity plus debt, less cash. Cash here excludes short-term investments, so this runs low for cash-rich companies.14.2%17.4%40.4%14.6%17.4%
P/E ratioPrice paid per dollar of annual profit.20.26x44.11x48.92x19.32x44.11x
EV / EBITDA (approx.)Market value plus debt less cash, against operating profit before depreciation. Cash excludes short-term investments, so this runs high for cash-rich companies.10.49x22.56x30.45x10.02x22.56x
Price to book3.60x9.69x12.61x4.43x9.69x
Debt to equityTotal liabilities compared with owners' stake.2.64x1.86x1.49x2.68x1.86x
Piotroski F-ScoreNine checks of financial strength. Higher is stronger.8/97/97/95/97.0
Bankruptcy riskAltman Z-Score zone.greygreysafegrey

How DG compares with the others

  • DG's operating margin of 5.2% is in line with the median of the other companies selected (4.2%).
  • Its revenue growth of 5.2% is in line with the median of the other companies selected (4.7%).
  • It trades at a lower P/E than the median of the other companies selected: 20.3x against 44.1x.
  • Its liabilities are higher relative to equity than the median of the other companies selected: 2.6x against 1.9x.

Measured against the other companies entered, from each one's latest annual filing. A difference describes the companies; it does not rank them.