Jim Cramer’s Latest Calls: Top 10 Stocks

5. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 65

Jim Cramer yet again hit the “buy, buy, buy” button on Costco in a latest program, praising the company’s “unbelievable bargains.”

Costco recently reported a 7.4% increase in monthly net sales for June to $24.48 billion, compared to $22.78 billion in the prior year. Analysts believe the latest membership fee hike won’t impact Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) negatively amid a loyal customer base. Costco has over 74.5 million paying memberships and a renewal rate of 90.5% In May the company posted fiscal third quarter results. Despite massive inflation, the company’s results were upbeat as it beat estimates on both revenue and EPS. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) saw a 6.1% increase in comparable foot traffic, while maintaining a remarkably low shrink rate of under 0.2%, which is one-tenth of the industry average. The value for money Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) offers is making customers flock to its executive membership, which costs almost double the regular membership. The company had 34.5 million paid executive memberships, an increase of 661,000 on a sequential basis. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) executive members now represent over 46% of paid members and 73.1% of worldwide sales.

As consumers continue to look for better prices and inflation is far from over, Costco is expected to keep growing. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is also a strong dividend payer, with about two decades of consistent dividend increases.

ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Consumer staples holdings were also standouts in the quarter, such as Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), which continues to execute well and delivered better than expected earnings, helped by strong traffic driving better expense leverage. Customers also looked to be shifting toward more discretionary purchases.”