Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is one of Jim Cramer's favorite stocks. The shares are down by 1% over the past year and are up by 12% year-to-date. As he has done with Apple and NVIDIA, Cramer has continued to stick with Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) through thick and thin.
The CNBC TV host believes that the firm's scale and negotiating power enable it to provide Americans with the lowest prices. As Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) reported its July sales data on August 5th, Cramer discussed the firm a day later in his morning appearance: "But what I want to see today, to see if it's strong or not, is Costco. Cause Costco had very, very good numbers, okay.
And I think that should be a good example if, yes that's getting rewarded. There's an example where you had a number that wasn't [inaudible] better than expected that also said good things. A lot of times it was better than expected but we didn't get the good things.
We didn't get the forecast bump. So if you have a quarter, you reported the quarter, and you gave us a forecast, it's like Pinterest. Pinterest forecast was not as strong as we'd like but the quarter was terrific.
A lot of people raised the price tag, but Pinterest went down. And that's been the template, if you don't raise your forecast as much as people were hoping, your stock does not do that well." Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)'s scale and market share allow it to run a major membership program, which is one of its strongest points. Membership renewal rates signal customer loyalty, and as of its fiscal third quarter, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) reported US and Canadian renewal rates of 92.2%.
Through its fees, the retailer is also able to offer its customers lower prices than most and create a feedback loop of renewal rates and customer satisfaction. Yet, at the same time, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)'s strengths also create weaknesses. The firm's forward P/E of 42 is higher than Walmart's 38 and significantly higher than Target's 18.6.
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