Company: COST
Filing Date: 2025-10-08
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000909832-25-000101
Chunk: 38

Company: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW
Filing Date: 2025-10-08
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 38
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 and enforcement practices, can be unpredictable. These may require extensive system and operational changes, be difficult to implement, increase the cost of doing business, require significant capital expenditures, adversely impact the products or services we offer, or result in adverse publicity and harm to our reputation. If we fail to comply or respond adequately to changes in laws and regulations, our business, operations and financial performance may be adversely affected.

We are subject to risks associated with the legislative, judicial, accounting, regulatory, political and economic factors specific to the countries or regions in which we operate, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

At the end of 2025, we operated 285 warehouses outside of the U.S. (31% of all warehouse locations), and we plan to continue expanding our international operations. Future operating results internationally could be negatively affected by a variety of factors, many similar to those we face in the U.S., certain of which are beyond our control. These factors include political and economic conditions, regulatory constraints, currency regulations, policy changes, and other matters in any of the countries or regions in which we operate, now or in the future. Other factors that may impact international operations include foreign trade (including tariffs and trade sanctions), monetary and fiscal policies and the laws and regulations of the U.S. and foreign governments, agencies and similar organizations, and risks associated with having major facilities in locations which have been historically less stable than the U.S. Risks inherent in international operations also include, among others, the costs and difficulties of managing international operations, adverse tax consequences, and difficulty in enforcing intellectual property rights. New reporting obligations globally are increasing the cost and complexity of doing business.

Changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Accounting principles and related pronouncements, implementation guidelines, and interpretations we apply to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business, including self-insurance liabilities, are highly complex and involve subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by our management. 

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Changes in rules or interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments by our management could significantly change our reported or expected financial performance and have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

We are exposed to risks relating to evaluations of controls required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and otherwise.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires management assessments of the effectiveness of internal control over