Loblaw Companies Ltd (L-T)

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good run, don't add new capital, not as cheap as it was. Perhaps sell calls. Name still works. 15x 2025 earnings, 10% EPS growth, healthy general margin expansion. Strong Shopper's numbers last quarter. Still likes it longer term.

Defensive consumer staple going into economic slowdown. Over half of food banners are in discount, seeing increased traffic. Plus, more people are cooking at home rather than eating out. SDM has great locations, offers Loblaw products; pharmacists expanding roles, and this increases general traffic. Yield is 1.45%.

The chart is consolidating, but has been sideways for the last two years. A trade, with support around $115 to resistance around $121. Historically, this stock rises, consolidates for a while, then breaks out.

It's not their fault that food prices are so high. The bread-fixing scandal didn't help their PR. With long lines at food banks, people need a scapegoat. He owns ATD instead. This sector will remain unpopular even if it makes money.

Very few competitors, and those types of names tend to perform well long-term. Largest grocery retailer, so procures good prices and controls distribution. Shoppers Drug Mart provide lots of earnings. Loyalty programs doing well. As a consumer staple, won't participate with more cyclical names. Defensive part of your portfolio. If you're up nicely, you could take some profits.

Likes it. It's an inflation story. Some consumers are gravitating away from restaurants and back to buying their own food, so it's a volume story too. Good place to be. Trading at a reasonable 15x earnings, not overly expensive. If you think we're getting into a mild recession, which might be prolonged, this is a safe bet.