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The short answer. Costco will send about $13.3 billion to its shareholders in one extra payment on December 4, on top of its regular dividend. The payout equals about two thirds of the $20.2 billion of cash the warehouse club held on August 30, 2026, according to its annual report. It is also worth about 20 regular quarterly dividends, against about 14 for each special Costco declared from 2015 to 2023.
Costco’s special dividend in three numbers
Total payout
~$13.3B
Costco’s own estimate of the total
Regular quarterly dividends it equals
~20
At the current $1.47 a share each quarter
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| 2012 | $7 |
| 2015 | $5 |
| 2017 | $7 |
| 2020 | $10 |
| 2023 | $15 |
| 2026 | $30 |
Every company reporting the same week, with its date and time, is in StockTitan's Earnings Calendar for the Week of November 9, 2026.
When is the Costco special dividend paid?
Costco pays $30 a share on December 4, 2026. The money goes to everyone listed as a shareholder on the company’s books at the close of business on November 24, which is the record date.
The board declared the payment in a release at 4:15 p.m. ET on November 10, after the market had closed. Costco also filed it with the SEC in a Form 8-K. Costco puts the total at about $13.3 billion. Costco had 443.1 million shares outstanding on September 29, according to its annual report.
The special dividend is an extra payment and does not replace the regular one. Costco will pay its regular dividend of $1.47 a share on November 13 to shareholders of record on October 30, as its October 14 release announced. The new release says nothing that changes it.
A shareholder of record with 10 Costco shares on November 24 would receive $300 on December 4, before any tax.
Show the data
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Nov. 10, 2026 | Board declares the $30 special dividend |
| Nov. 24, 2026 | Record date; under Nasdaq’s rule, also the expected ex-dividend date |
| Dec. 4, 2026 | Costco pays the $30 a share |
The stock traded at $1,083 at 4:25 p.m. ET in after-hours trading, against a $1,066.14 official close, according to StockTitan real-time Nasdaq data.
What is the Costco ex-dividend date?
For a cash payout worth less than a quarter of the share price, Nasdaq’s rule puts the ex-dividend date on the record date itself. For Costco that would be Tuesday, November 24, two days before Thanksgiving.
The ex-dividend date is the first day a share trades without the right to the coming dividend. The SEC’s investor site, Investor.gov, explains the consequence. A buyer on the ex-dividend date or later does not receive that dividend, and the seller does. A buyer before that date receives it.
The exchange sets the date. Nasdaq’s Rule 11140 has two cases, worded the same way as FINRA Rule 11140. For a cash dividend worth less than 25% of the share’s value, the ex-dividend date is the record date. For a dividend worth 25% or more, it is the first business day after the payment date.
Costco’s $30 is about 2.8% of the share price, far below that 25% line. So the ordinary case applies, and under it the ex-dividend date would be November 24. Nasdaq had not yet listed the special dividend on its Costco dividend page at 4:22 p.m. ET on November 10.
Investor.gov notes that with a significant dividend, the price of a stock “may fall by that amount on the ex-dividend date.” The cash leaves the company for the holders of record, and a share bought from that day on no longer carries the payment.
Costco special dividend history
This is Costco’s sixth special dividend since 2012, and both the per-share amount and the total are the largest of the six. At $30 a share it is twice the $15 declared in December 2023 and paid in January 2024.
Costco paid its first special dividend, $7 a share, in December 2012, as its November 28, 2012 release announced.
It followed with $5 in 2015, $7 in 2017 and $10 in 2020, which the company called “our fourth in eight years.” The fifth, $15 a share, was declared in December 2023 and paid in January 2024.
The totals have climbed too. The $13.3 billion going out on December 4 is about twice the $6.7 billion of the last special. It is also more than the first four specials put together, which came to about $12.7 billion.
How Costco paid for them has changed. In 2015 it used existing cash and new borrowing, and in 2017 the money came “primarily through additional borrowings.” The 2020 special used existing cash, while the releases for 2023 and 2026 do not say.
| Declared | Per share | Record date | Paid | Total | Funding as Costco stated it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 28, 2012 | $7.00 | Dec 10, 2012 | Dec 18, 2012 | ~$3.0B | Not stated |
| Jan 30, 2015 | $5.00 | Feb 9, 2015 | Feb 27, 2015 | ~$2.2B | Existing cash and additional borrowings |
| Apr 25, 2017 | $7.00 | May 10, 2017 | May 26, 2017 | ~$3.1B | Primarily additional borrowings |
| Nov 16, 2020 | $10.00 | Dec 2, 2020 | Dec 11, 2020 | ~$4.4B | Existing cash |
| Dec 14, 2023 | $15.00 | Dec 28, 2023 | Jan 12, 2024 | ~$6.7B | Not stated |
| Nov 10, 2026 | $30.00 | Nov 24, 2026 | Dec 4, 2026 | ~$13.3B | Not stated |
Source: Costco’s announcement of each special dividend, linked above; totals are the approximate figures each release gives, in dollars of the day.
How does the $30 compare with the regular Costco dividend?
The $30 equals about 20 of Costco’s regular quarterly dividends, or about five years of them at today’s rate. Each special from 2015 to 2023 was worth fewer of them.
Costco’s regular dividend is $1.47 a share each quarter, or $5.88 a year, since the board raised it in April 2026. The special equals 20.4 of those quarterly payments.
That is a break from Costco’s own pattern. The specials of 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2023 each equalled about 14 regular quarterly dividends at the rate in force when they were declared. The regular dividend grew over those years, and each special grew with it. Only the first special, in 2012, was larger on this measure, at about 25 quarterly payments of 27.5 cents.
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| 2012 ($7 vs $0.275) | 25.5 |
| 2015 ($5 vs $0.355) | 14.1 |
| 2017 ($7 vs $0.50) | 14.0 |
| 2020 ($10 vs $0.70) | 14.3 |
| 2023 ($15 vs $1.02) | 14.7 |
| 2026 ($30 vs $1.47) | 20.4 |
Against the share price, the $30 looks more ordinary. It is about 2.8% of the November 10 close, near the 2.4% of the 2023 special and well below the 6.8% of the 2012 one.
Show the data
| Declared | Special | Quarterly dividend then | Special in quarterly dividends | Close on the day declared | Special as share of that close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | $7.00 | $0.275 | 25.5 | $102.58 | 6.8% |
| 2015 | $5.00 | $0.355 | 14.1 | $142.99 | 3.5% |
| 2017 | $7.00 | $0.50 | 14.0 | $172.68 | 4.1% |
| 2020 | $10.00 | $0.70 | 14.3 | $379.79 | 2.6% |
| 2023 | $15.00 | $1.02 | 14.7 | $630.78 | 2.4% |
| 2026 | $30.00 | $1.47 | 20.4 | $1,066.14 | 2.8% |
Source: Costco’s dividend releases, at the quarterly rate in force when each special was declared. The 2017 rate is the $0.50 declared the same day. Closes are from StockTitan daily price data, and the 2026 close is the official close from StockTitan real-time Nasdaq data.
How much cash does Costco have for the special dividend?
Costco held $20.2 billion in cash at the end of its fiscal year on August 30, 2026, so the payout equals about two thirds of it. The release does not say whether cash, borrowing or both will pay for it.
The annual report shows that cash rose from $14.2 billion a year earlier. In fiscal 2026 Costco’s operations brought in $15.8 billion of cash, and it spent $6.4 billion on property and equipment.
Long-term debt stood at $6.2 billion on August 30, and $2.2 billion of it falls due within a year.
Costco’s release says it operates 945 warehouses. StockTitan’s look at its October sales and the lift from gas prices covers how its stores sold last month.
What does the new Costco buyback replace?
The board approved a new plan to buy back up to $4 billion of Costco stock through November 2030. It replaces the plan from 2023, under which Costco had bought $3.1 billion of shares.
The old plan, also $4 billion, was approved on January 19, 2023 and was set to run until January 2027. In fiscal 2026 Costco bought back 891,000 shares for $847 million, at an average of $950.90 a share, according to its annual report. A buyback plan sets a ceiling on purchases, and the company chooses when and whether to buy.
Next to the buybacks, the special dividend is much larger. The $13.3 billion is about four times the $3.1 billion Costco spent across nearly four years of the 2023 plan.
What to watch
- The ex-dividend date: Nasdaq lists it on its Costco dividend history page once it sets it; under Rule 11140 it would fall on the November 24 record date.
- How Costco pays for it: the company’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter that includes December 4 will show its cash and borrowing after the payout.
Our numbers
These figures are our calculations from the sources linked in this article. The totals are the rounded figures each Costco release gives, and the cash figure dates from August 30, before the payout.
- About 20 regular quarterly dividends: the $30 special divided by the $1.47 quarterly dividend, which gives 20.4, or about five years of payments at that rate. The same division for each earlier special, at the quarterly rate when it was declared, gives 14.0 to 14.7 from 2015 to 2023 and 25.5 for 2012.
- About twice the last special: $13.3 billion against the $6.7 billion total of the 2023 special, from Costco’s releases.
- More than the first four specials combined: the totals in Costco’s 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020 releases add up to about $12.7 billion, against about $13.3 billion now.
- About 2.8% of the share price: $30 divided by the $1,066.14 official close on November 10, 2026; each earlier special divided by the close on the day it was declared.
- About two thirds of the cash: $13.3 billion divided by the $20.2 billion of cash and cash equivalents on August 30, 2026.
- About four times spending under the 2023 buyback plan: $13.3 billion divided by the $3.1 billion bought under that plan.
Frequently asked questions
Costco pays the $30 a share on December 4, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 24, 2026. The company puts the total at about $13.3 billion.
Nasdaq sets it. Under Nasdaq Rule 11140, the ex-dividend date for a cash dividend worth less than 25% of the share’s value is the record date, which for Costco would be November 24, 2026. Investor.gov explains that a buyer on or after the ex-dividend date does not receive that dividend, and the seller does.
Costco has declared six special dividends: $7 a share in 2012, $5 in 2015, $7 in 2017, $10 in 2020, $15 in 2023 and $30 in 2026. The $15 was declared in December 2023 and paid in January 2024. Each amount comes from the company’s own announcement.
The IRS explains in Tax Topic 404 that dividends are either ordinary or qualified, and that qualified dividends are taxed at the lower capital gain rates. The payer reports which dividends are qualified on Form 1099-DIV. Costco’s release does not describe the tax treatment of this payment.
Yes. Costco will pay its regular dividend of $1.47 a share on November 13, 2026, to shareholders of record on October 30, and the special dividend comes on top of it. The regular rate is $5.88 a share a year since the April 2026 increase.
Sources
- Costco release: $30 special cash dividend and stock repurchase program, November 10, 2026
- Costco release: quarterly cash dividend, October 14, 2026
- Costco release: quarterly dividend increase, April 15, 2026
- Costco release: $15 special dividend, December 14, 2023
- Costco release: quarterly cash dividend, August 9, 2023
- Costco release: stock repurchase program reauthorization, January 19, 2023
- Costco release: $10 special dividend, November 16, 2020
- Costco release: quarterly cash dividend, October 14, 2020
- StockTitan: Gas Prices Made Up a Third of Costco (COST) Sales Growth in the U.S.
- StockTitan: Costco (COST) overview
- StockTitan: Costco (COST) financials
- StockTitan: dividend yield calculator
- Costco Form 8-K, filed November 10, 2026
- Costco Form 10-K for fiscal 2026
- Costco release: $7 special dividend, April 25, 2017 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
- Costco release: $5 special dividend, January 30, 2015 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2)
- Costco release: quarterly cash dividend, January 29, 2015 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
- Costco release: $7 special dividend, November 28, 2012 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
- FINRA Rule 11140, ex-dividend dates
- Nasdaq: Costco dividend history
- Investor.gov (SEC): Ex-Dividend Dates
- IRS Tax Topic 404, Dividends