With the U.S. economy in 2022 and 2023 facing headwinds from inflation and higher interest rates, warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) has gotten all sorts of attention. Its sales have been humming along at a healthy clip, but its net income growth in particular has been brisk. That bottom-line figure is essentially a simple measure of Costco's income from its annual membership fees, as it doesn't actually sell its merchandise for anything resembling a net profit.

All of that growth over the last few years has culminated in Costco's recently announced $15-per-share special one-time dividend payment. Congrats, dedicated Costco shareholders -- your long-term mindset is well-deserving of a bonus.

What's really amazing about Costco stock, though, is how thoroughly it has beaten its largest peers on a total-return basis (stock price gains plus reinvested dividends) over the last five years. By that metric, Costco has delivered returns of 260% to shareholders over that period. Competitors such as Target (NYSE: TGT) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) lag far behind. Even mighty Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock performance pales in comparison.

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Source Fool.com