Costco raises every fiscal 2027 executive bonus target 25%

Costco Wholesale Corporation's compensation committee approved fiscal 2027 executive bonus criteria on October 13, 2026 that lift every target component 25% from the fiscal 2026 plan: the CEO's sales and pre-tax income targets each rise to $500,000 from $400,000, other executive officers' to $160,000 from $128,000, and the environmental and social component to $200,000 from $160,000 for the CEO and to $80,000 from $64,000 for the others. The company disclosed the plan in a Form 8-K filed October 16, 2026, with the plan attached as Exhibit 10.1.

Bonus targets rise 25% at every level

Costco's compensation committee approved the fiscal 2027 bonus criteria on October 13, 2026, and the company disclosed them in a Form 8-K filed on October 16, 2026, with the plan itself attached as Exhibit 10.1. For fiscal 2027, "executive officers other than the Chief Executive Officer and President are eligible for a base bonus of $400,000", split into $160,000 tied to sales targets and $160,000 tied to pre-tax income targets. The CEO's base bonus is $1.2 million, split $500,000 and $500,000 on the same two measures. Under the fiscal 2027 plan each operating goal can pay "from zero to up to 120% of the target amount", and up to $80,000 for other officers and $200,000 for the CEO can be earned on environmental and social metrics.

Every matching component is 25% higher than in the fiscal 2026 plan, disclosed in an 8-K filed October 20, 2025. That plan set the other officers' sales and pre-tax targets at $128,000 each and their environmental and social component at up to $64,000, and the CEO's at $400,000 each plus $160,000. The base totals therefore rise to $400,000 from $320,000 for the executive group and to $1.2 million from $960,000 for the CEO, while the 120% ceiling on each operating goal is unchanged.

Labels moved along with the amounts

The earlier filing's headline eligibility amounts were quoted as maxima, while it also set out the base components behind them, which matters for any quick comparison. It said, for fiscal 2026, that executive officers other than the CEO were "eligible to receive bonuses up to $371,200" and that "the Chief Executive Officer is eligible to receive a bonus of up to $1.12 million" — amounts that already absorb the 120% ceiling on the sales and pre-tax goals plus the full environmental and social component. The new filing calls $400,000 and $1.2 million base bonuses, before any leverage. Against the totals the company stated a year ago, the new labels are 7.76% and 7.14% higher, an arithmetic step-up that understates the change in the underlying components, where the increase is 25%.

Committee approval and the October 2027 condition

Exhibit 10.1 attaches conditions to any payout. "The final bonus amounts are subject to the approval of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee as to the environmental and social bonuses", the plan says, and "an individual must be employed by the Company on October 22, 2027" to be eligible for the annual bonus. It adds that base bonus targets are "exclusive of foreign currency changes" and "subject to adjustment for certain factors consistent with applicable accounting standards", leaving the committee latitude to restate the measurement.

A compensation filing with no results in it

The 8-K carries the compensating-arrangements item and the exhibits item only, and it announces no departure and no appointment of an officer. There are no sales, earnings, membership income or margin figures in the document, and the company does not name its CEO in it. One wording difference appears between the two documents: the 8-K's item describes the group as officers other than the CEO, while Exhibit 10.1 says "other than the Chief Executive Officer and President". The plan states the bonus opportunity, not the performance goals or the amounts that will actually be paid; those depend on the committees' later approval, and October 22, 2027 is the date at which an officer must still be employed to qualify.