Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

It reports tomorrow. Everyone is questioning the consumer so she will be watching for ongoing subscriber growth. COST could benefit from richer households trading down in their shopping.

Their Kirkland brand is cheaper and better than premium brands. Astonishing. This saves Club Members money. The brand gives a leg up vs. other retail competitors in a tough retail landscape.

Their club system is terrific, with a high renewal rate. They innovate their products and maintain their margins. Lots of room to open new stores, even in North America. The best brick-and-mortar retailer.

Many growth levers. Membership growing quickly, motivated by inflation costs, and this will continue. Brand loyalty. New stores opening annually will support growth and the stock price. Long-term hold. Fantastic management.

A struggle to choose. He owns WMT. You get more defensiveness with the lower prices, as well as online exposure where WMT has made significant investments. 

COST has always had an expensive valuation, and always will. Selloffs are traditionally a good time to buy. Great assets and business model. There are a lot worse things to own than this one.

Will remain a shareholder.
Excellent business for the long term investor.
Very strong business model.
High value surplus of inventory being sold off.
Membership program continues to generate large amount of revenues.
Higher inflation will shift demand to lower cost goods.

It has gone up faster than the fundamentals and growth is in the single digits. Price should probably consolidate.

Stills owns shares in company.
Long term investment.
Membership loyalty very strong (90%) - generates most of profits.
Per square footage buying power very high.
~11% growth for revenue expected.
Current share price a little high.

EPS of $3.42 beat estimates of $3.28. Sales of $53.6B slightly missed estimates of $54.26B. Costco's top-line growth in fiscal 4Q may be driven more by traffic as the average basket size declines, though same-store sales excluding fuel and foreign exchange face tough comparisons. Food and sundries are categories of strength. Management expects inflation to moderate in 4Q, though lower demand for big-ticket items like furniture and electronics remains a headwind that will persist. The company discontinued its charter shipping activities in 3Q, resulting in a non-recurring charge that's weighing on profit. Core merchandise margin may be pressured in fiscal 4Q from higher costs and lower sales of higher-margin discretionary items. Investors liked the results, and the stock remains one that could still do well in a recessionary environment. Valuation is certainly up there at 35X earnings, but it has never been a cheap stock. 
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She's hesitant, because it always trades at a premium multiple. Pretty good performer long-term. Loyal customer base.

Still in his portfolio. Extremely strong renewal rates. Strong buying power. Still expecting 9-11% annualized earnings growth. Bit of a premium at 33x forward PE. Leadership name. Consumer staple, could do well in market softness.

Has been margin pressure. Big ticket items are seeing pressure but inflation is slowing. Likes it.

No qualms buying it here. Expensive, as it has been every day he's looked at it for the last 15 years. Superlative retailer. If you have a 2-3 year time horizon, rare that you'd lose money on an investment like this.

Current share price high but is excellent business.
Has since sold shares which was a mistake.
Great company with excellent long term prospects. 

It just reported weakness in sales, hard goods and furnishing especially. Shares fell $11 yesterday. But they have a track record of selling quality products at good prices. it's well-run and share weakness won't last that long. He's long owned this and still likes it.