AVGO vs COST Stock Comparison

COST currently leads AVGO in this stock comparison, with AIQ scores of 62 vs 49. The clearest difference is momentum, while AVGO has the stronger quality profile.

Market data as of Oct 21, 2026 market close· AIQ score gap 13 points
AVGO
Technology
vs
COST
Consumer Defensive
AVGO
Broadcom Inc.
Price
$338
Day move
+1.03%
AIQ Score
49/100
Best edge
Quality
Sector
Technology
COST
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Leads
Price
$998
Day move
+0.37%
AIQ Score
62/100
Best edge
Momentum
Sector
Consumer Defensive

What is the main difference between AVGO and COST?

COST leads the current stock comparison as Costco Wholesale Corporation, with the clearest separation coming from momentum and the broader AIQ evidence mix.

AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison

Broadcom Inc. vs Costco Wholesale Corporation

Data as of Oct 21, 2026· market close· Cross-sector · Technology vs Consumer Defensive· Coverage 66/66 fields· High confidence
AIQ VerdictCompetitiveAIQ Comparison Conviction 6/10

COST leads

COST leads by 13 AIQ points, primarily on Momentum and Risk Resilience, and the lead has widened from 1 points over 30 sessions. Wall Street currently favors AVGO on target upside.

Competitive: 3 of 6 evidence groups support COST, its lead is widening, and its current signal state is conflicted.

Evidence agreement: 3 of 6Comparison trend: Strengthening
AVGO

Broadcom Inc.

AIQ Score
49/100
AIQ Edge Score
5/10
COST

Costco Wholesale Corporation

Leads
AIQ Score
62/100
AIQ Edge Score
9/10

The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors COST over AVGO, 62 versus 49 as of Oct 21, 2026. COST's advantage is driven primarily by stronger momentum and risk resilience, while AVGO holds the stronger quality profile. COST also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average, though analyst target upside currently favors AVGO. 3 of 6 covered evidence groups favor COST today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: only 3 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. COST lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 1 to 13 points over 30 sessions.

Compare Broadcom Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corporation across the Algovestiq AIQ Score, valuation, quality, momentum, risk, technicals and analyst expectations.

Currently unavailable

Performance over time

Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes.

AVGO
+608.7%
COST
+117.7%

Total return comparison

Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested

AVGO $70,871 · COST $21,767

Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.

Compare AVGO and COST against another ticker

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Basic: 2 symbols·Explorer: 3 symbols·Pro and Premium: 5 symbols·Your limit: 2

AIQ Factor Divergence

Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.

AVGO advantage
0
COST advantage
  • Momentum27 vs 95
    COST +68
  • Quality85 vs 60
    AVGO +25
  • Risk Resilience53 vs 71
    COST +18
  • Value30 vs 32
    Even

3 of 6 evidence groups favor COST. COST’s edge is concentrated in momentum and risk resilience; AVGO keeps a meaningful quality edge.

What changed since the last close

Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.

AVGO0 AIQ

Largest factor move: Momentum +1, not enough on its own to move the overall score.

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 3 active signals are unchanged.

COST0 AIQ

Largest factor move: Risk Resilience +1, not enough on its own to move the overall score.

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 4 active signals are unchanged.

COST's lead was unchanged in the latest session.

Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — AVGO and COST both carry a full feed there.

The central trade-off

COST (Costco Wholesale Corporation): the stronger current systematic profile, led by momentum and risk resilience.

AVGO (Broadcom Inc.): the counter-case, on quality, fundamentals, analyst expectations — but at materially higher volatility, 36.5% against 17.2%.

The AIQ Score and Wall Street therefore point in different directions on this pair.

Which one fits your objective

The same two names rank differently depending on what you are optimizing for. All six reads are shown at once — none of them is hidden behind a toggle.

Balanced

COST

COST on the overall AIQ Score, which weights Quality and Value most heavily.

Growth

AVGO

AVGO on combined revenue and EPS growth.

Value

Even

The two are level on Value.

Momentum

COST

COST on the Momentum factor, by 68 points.

Lower downside

COST

COST on Risk Resilience, by 18 points.

Analyst upside

AVGO

AVGO on implied upside to the consensus price target.

AIQ vs Wall Street

The model and the Street disagree here: AIQ favors COST, analyst targets favor AVGO. That disagreement is the most useful thing on this page.

MeasureAVGOCOSTNote
Implied upside to target+48.9%+11.3%AVGO has more room
Target dispersion+49.7%+28.8%Lower is tighter analyst agreement
ConsensusBuyBuyContext, not a primary driver
Analysts covering1811Higher coverage generally improves confidence

The two are measuring different things. The AIQ Score reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; analyst targets price forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something already priced in — it is worth resolving before acting on either.

Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions. Dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.

Dividend growth

AVGO vs COST: regular dividend growth
Dividend metricAVGOCOST
5Y dividend CAGR12.63%12.97%
2020 regular DPS$1.335$2.750
2025 regular DPS$2.420$5.060
Years increased55
No cut in windowYesYes
Cohort rank#55#52

COST grew its split-adjusted regular dividend faster over 2020–2025 — 12.97% a year against AVGO's 12.63%. Neither company reduced its regular dividend in any year of the window.

Yield and payout ratio shown elsewhere on this page are current values, not part of the study window.

Split-adjusted regular dividends per share, 2020–2025, excluding special dividends. Research as of Sep 19, 2026.

AIQ Agreement Matrix

3 of 6 covered evidence groups favor COST. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.

Evidence groupFavorsReading
AIQ ScoreCOST49 vs 62
FundamentalsAVGOrevenue growth 14.9% vs 1.3%; EPS growth 26.5% vs 7.9%; TTM ROE 36.4% vs 28.3%; gross margin 67% vs 12.9%; operating margin 43.7% vs 3.8%
ValuationEvenValue 30 vs 32
TechnicalsCOSTPrice vs 50-day -6.7% vs 6.7%; vs 200-day -9.1% vs 2.8%
Risk ResilienceCOSTRisk Resilience 53 vs 71
Analyst expectationsAVGOTarget upside 48.9% vs 11.3%

✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of AVGO and COST and are excluded from the count.

AIQ Decision Stability

Competitive

The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.

  • The AIQ gap is wide at 13 points. (supports the conclusion holding)
  • Only 3 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
  • The leader's advantage has been widening. (supports the conclusion holding)
  • The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)

Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on COST.

How the comparison changed

120 daily snapshots · Jun 21 – Oct 20

COST lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 1 to 13 points over 30 sessions.

Jun 21AVGO leads above the line · COST leads belowOct 20
Today
COST +13
49 vs 62
7 sessions ago
COST +10
52 vs 62
30 sessions ago
COST +1
53 vs 54
90 sessions ago
AVGO +5
57 vs 52

The lead changed hands 7 times in this window, most recently on Oct 8 when COST moved ahead of AVGO.

AIQ Signal Divergence

Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.

AVGO

0 bullish / 3 bearish

Only AVGO

  • Downtrend Structure Active — bearish, trend, long horizon
  • MACD Bearish Crossover — bearish, momentum, short horizon
COSTConflicted

2 bullish / 2 bearish, conflicted

Only COST

  • Keltner Channel Breakout — bullish, volatility, short horizon
  • RSI Overbought — bearish, momentum, short horizon
  • MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon

Both carry 1 more signal that do not separate them: Death Cross Active.

COST leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.

Price vs model alignment

Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.

AVGONo material change

Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +1.03%, AIQ 0 points).

COSTNo material change

Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +0.37%, AIQ 0 points).

What would flip this result

A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.

  1. 1AVGO closes the Momentum gap — currently 68 points behind, the largest single contributor to COST's edge.
  2. 2AVGO's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
  3. 3COST's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 2 bullish and 2 bearish rules at once.
  4. 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.

The full evidence

Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.

Fundamentals

AVGO leads on balance
MetricAVGOCOST
Revenue growth (YoY)14.9%1.3%
EPS growth (YoY)26.5%7.9%
Gross margin67%12.9%
Operating margin43.7%3.8%
Return on equity (TTM)36.4%28.3%
Debt to equity0.740.25

Performance

COST leads 6 of 6 windows
MetricAVGOCOST
1 week (5 sessions)-6.4%4.2%
1 month (20 sessions)-8.3%10.6%
3 months (63 sessions)-15.7%7.3%
6 months (126 sessions)-16.4%-1.1%
Year to date-3.4%15.3%
1 year (252 sessions)-5.6%6.4%

Technicals

COST has the stronger structure
MetricAVGOCOST
RSI (14)41.886
ADX (14)21.431.5
Price vs 50-day-6.7%6.7%
Price vs 200-day-9.1%2.8%
Volatility (1M, annualized)36.5%17.2%

Risk

COST is the more resilient
MetricAVGOCOST
Beta2.16-0.18
Sharpe ratio0.050.21
Sortino ratio0.070.31
Max drawdown-31.7%-18.3%
Current drawdown-30.6%-9.1%
Annualized volatility45.9%19.7%
Value at risk (95%)-4.4%-2.1%

Straight answers

Each answer is regenerated from the current snapshot, not written once and left to age.

Which is better, AVGO or COST?

On the Algovestiq AIQ Score, COST is the stronger of the two as of Oct 21, 2026, scoring 62 against AVGO's 49. The edge comes from momentum and risk resilience. AVGO is not without a case — it holds the better quality profile, which matters more if that is the objective you are optimizing for. This is a systematic score, not a recommendation: it ranks the two on the same evidence, it does not know your holding period or tax position.

Is AVGO or COST the better buy right now?

COST carries the stronger systematic profile as of Oct 21, 2026, and the comparison is rated Competitive — 3 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. A Competitive rating means the two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.

Why does the AIQ Score favor COST over AVGO?

The composite weights Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk Resilience. COST leads Momentum by 68 points; AVGO leads Quality by 25 points; COST leads Risk Resilience by 18 points. Where the two split, the factor with the larger weight carries the result.

Which has more analyst upside, AVGO or COST?

Analyst price targets imply +48.9% upside for AVGO and +11.3% for COST, so the Street currently favors AVGO. That points the opposite way to the AIQ Score, which favors COST. The two are measuring different things: the model reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; the Street is pricing forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something the analysts have already priced — it is the single most useful row on this page to investigate. Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions, and dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.

Which is better value, AVGO or COST?

Neither name separates on the peer-relative Value factor. The two are level on Value. The Value factor reads valuation relative to sector peers and to the company's own fundamental quality, so it is not the same as simply having the lower multiple.

Which has stronger growth, AVGO or COST?

AVGO on combined revenue and EPS growth. Growth here is measured on reported revenue and earnings, not on forward estimates — it describes what the businesses have delivered, not what the Street expects next.

Which has stronger momentum, AVGO or COST?

COST on the Momentum factor, by 68 points. Momentum is one of the four weighted factors in the AIQ composite. It has documented persistence over three- to twelve-month horizons, which makes it a timing input rather than a reason to hold something indefinitely.

Which is riskier, AVGO or COST?

COST is the more resilient of the two, so the other name carries the higher downside risk. COST on Risk Resilience, by 18 points. Risk Resilience is a weighted factor in the composite; position sizing usually responds to it more usefully than the buy/avoid decision does.

Is AVGO more profitable than COST?

AVGO leads on the comparable margin measures — gross margin 67% vs 12.9%; operating margin 43.7% vs 3.8%; ttm roe 36.4% vs 28.3%.

Is COST's lead over AVGO getting stronger or weaker?

COST lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 1 to 13 points over 30 sessions. This is measured from 120 daily comparison snapshots between 2026-06-21 and 2026-10-20. The lead has changed hands 7 times in that window, most recently on 2026-10-08, when COST moved ahead of AVGO.

What would change the AVGO vs COST verdict?

The result is a state, not a forecast, so it changes when the underlying evidence changes. Concretely: AVGO closes the Momentum gap — currently 68 points behind, the largest single contributor to COST's edge; AVGO's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it; COST's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 2 bullish and 2 bearish rules at once; a regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.

What do the current signals say about AVGO and COST?

AVGO: 0 bullish / 3 bearish. COST: 2 bullish / 2 bearish, conflicted. A conflicted state means bullish and bearish rules are active on the same name at once — the technical evidence is not pointing one way, and a decision taken on it carries more timing risk. The most decision-relevant rule on AVGO is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon). On COST it is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon).

Compare AVGO and COST with others

Continue your research

This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.

How this comparison is scored

The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.

The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.

How to use side-by-side comparison →

This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.