Christine Poole Loblaw Companies Ltd L-T TOP PICK Nov 23, 2023

Remarkable sprint for a grocer and drugstore, executing well on both. Benefited from discount banners. Higher margins on strong private label portfolio. SDM is doing very well, same-store sales going up, pharmacies expanding scope of service -- increases revenue and foot traffic. Wait for a pullback to enter.

Owns Shoppers, and that's one of the reasons he likes it so much. The business is being transformed all over NA, because after Covid they found it was so much cheaper to send you to get a vaccine at a pharmacy than to go to a hospital.

Over the last decade, has evolved magnificently into a very different business. Vertically integrated. Purchase of Shoppers has been massive platform for growth. Grocery, pharmacy, and now moving into healthcare. Rich, wait for a pullback. If you own it, hold, don't sell.

Continues to execute on market share and growth. More challenging recently, might be due to market rotation over to small caps. Longer-term great hold, just hold on. If you're a short-term trader, consider taking gains and rolling into something else.

Great year. Shopper's has been really strong, and selling/prescribing GLP-1 drugs hasn't hurt either. Likes it, though it's run up a bunch.

For consumer staples, he likes to stay close to home. Very few competitors. Stock's done very well for him.

Loves the grocery sector, an oligopoly. Better growth prospects, better margins, but higher valuation in the space.

Wait for a pullback, given current highs. As Canada's economy softens, more shoppers spend at their discount banners. Shoppers are doing very well in beauty goods as they get out of the low-margin electronics; many provinces are allowing pharmacists to expand their role, which is another tailwind for Shoppers Drug Mart (that Loblaw owns). They are expanding their margins and guiding higher.

Unfortunately, tariffs mean consumers will pay more. Eventually it will cost people their jobs. Phenomenal awakening of raising prices and capturing margins. Valuation of 20x would make him sell, deploy profits elsewhere. See his Top Picks.

The ultimate winner in inflation. Tough business, low margins, competitive. He owns COST. Loblaw is well run, as are MRU and EMP.A