Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

Doesn't know if they're going to split, and it's not important to him. Valuation expensive, but worth paying up for (see his upcoming podcast on Monday for why). Everything they do is to improve the business long term -- cares about employees, tries to add value for members, great balance sheet.

Best retail business in the world bar none. 10K Walmarts globally, but fewer than 900 Costco stores and they're all busy. Goal is to open 20-30 new stores a year for multi-decades. Business model is very certain. Doing everything right.

Great performer, hitting all-time highs, continues to like it. Combination of steady earnings with good secular growth. No meaningful competition. Charts don't get better than this, a series of higher highs and higher lows for the last couple of years. 200-day MA trending higher, and price is above that. Overbought at 77 RSI, so not buying for new clients.

Earnings are pretty steady. 10% growth rate, decent. Member loyalty is astounding, price has been increased slowly over time. Pricing power is so powerful because they have fewer different items, but in higher volumes.

Great business model. Wide moat. Lots of potential in foreign markets. Could come back to the $600 level. Everyone should own some at some point. Yield is 0.6%.

It reports Thursday. He owns a big position and expects an excellent quarter. Wait because this stock tends to decline after it reports, then rallies several days later.

Excellent business. One of the top ten positions in portfolio. Stock price very high. Consumer discretionary spending down, but company offers compelling value. Many shoppers shifting spending trends to Costco with rising interest rates. Business has very strong business model. Would recommend holding for the long term. 

Fabulous company and great investment. Always too rich for him, trading in mid-30s. It would have been an uncomfortable ride for him, as it's a retailer with all that air underneath its lofty multiple. Unique business model.

A blue chip stock.

Shares ran up too far. Their business plan is simple: likely open 30 stores a year given insane demand. They just opened one in Shenzen, China. Are only 870 Costco stores vs. 10,000 Walmarts, so there's room to grow. PE isn't cheap, but 10 years from now you will be happy owning this.

It is a stable company which makes its money on volume and membership fees. The Kirkland brand itself generates a huge amount of revenue. However its valuation is quite stretched at 45X earnings.

She trimmed it before it declined last week after earnings. Really likes it, but Costco is expensive now.

Shares are down 7% after a mixed quarter after a slight miss on the top and a beat on the bottom; some softness in discretionary spending which is a little concerning. The street was expecting better from membership numbers. They have runway ahead and remain the best big-box retailer.

EPS of $3.92 beat estimates of $3.62; revenue of $58.44B missed estimates by 1%. Costco's same-store sales growth remains solid as consumers continue to appreciate value. In-store traffic is the main driver, outpacing gains in average transaction size, a trend likely to persist in fiscal 3Q. Strength in food and sundries is a bright spot, though discretionary spending on some big-ticket items is slowly improving. This is helping drive e-commerce revenue gains, which skew to higher-priced items. Improvements to the mobile app and better advertising campaigns are also aiding digital-sales growth. Inflation is moderating in some categories, letting the company lower prices and reinforce its value proposition, helping to drive robust membership-renewal rates. Merchandise gross margin may slightly expand in 3Q on lower supply-chain related costs. The stock dropped on concern on lower margins, and lack of near-term catalysts, but a planned membership price hike (being considered) may change this. But nothing in the release gives us any real concern, though the stock does remain premium priced. 
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Retail advantage: low prices due to its club membership model. They report tomorrow. Also, they have such scale, they can collect massive data and harness that data using AI to better predict their business.

Excellent business, but valuation of stock price is high. Amazing management of business with own processes that keep prices low for customers. Is excellent for long term holders to buy (5+ years). Membership fee allows company to weather ups and downs of retail. 

New managers in early March will focus on raising digital sales, which are only 7% of overall now. COST is a permanent compounder.