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Opinions Gordon Reid
Costco Wholesale CorporationCOSTCOMMENTMar 16, 2017
Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 18, 2026. Market Open.
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High valuation but is growing double digits, which it should do so for years. They have the lowest prices of products compared to peers. A lot of room to expand location. A great business model. He will hold this forever.
Barry Schwartz
A buy-and-hold forever. Omnichannel retailer, as it's increasingly seeing acceleration in e-commerce and delivery channels.
Brian MaddenHe wrote an in-the-money call at $985. It was trading over $1,000 yesterday down to $950 today. He covered half the position and just closed it out at $5. He netted a $22 profit. Earnings were good, as expected. You can add to it at these levels, despite the high PE.
Kevin Simpson
Both great companies, but both very expensive. COST is over 50x PE, and WMT's in the 40s. Fairly low-margin model. Reliant on the consumer, and everyone's affected when that consumer is struggling.
WMT reported today. Earnings were OK, but projections on future quarters were tough. High fuel prices were highlighted.
No valuation concerns, as it's been expensive every day he's looked at it over 30 years. Compounded shareholder total return of 17.5% since its IPO. Third-largest retailer in the world. Procurement clout and supply-chain efficiencies produce gross margins of 11%. Still expanding store count. Periodically increases membership fees. Superior same-store sales performance driven by traffic and basket size.
Lots of ways to win. Yield is 0.59%.
Brian MaddenThe only consumer staples he owns are COST and KO, which are still growing.
Barry Schwartz
A good name to hold in consumer staples when people panic about market volatility, recession, or the like. Defensive plus steady growth. Runup since January, now trending sideways. Business model is what makes it stand out.
Sees ~11-12% upside from here. Of course, that could change. Ranks 10/10 for her.
Brianne Gardner
This model is fantastic. Basically, they make nothing on the merchandise they sell and 100% of their profitability comes from membership fees. Retailers are out of fashion right now, especially brick and mortar ones, because of the new age of ordering online and e-commerce as well as border tax implications. Only about 25% of their merchandise comes from outside the US borders, so they are somewhat insulated. People pay up for it, so the PE is somewhere in the high 20s. If they continue doing what they are doing, a mid-20s multiple is reasonable. He would not be comfortable paying this multiple for his clients.