Is Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) the Best Fundamental Stock to Buy According to Billionaires?

We recently published a list of 10 Best Fundamental Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) stands against other best fundamental stocks to buy according to billionaires.

As per Fitch Ratings, the US tariffs are now at levels that continue to transform the global economic outlook, meaningfully increasing the US recession risks as well as constraining the US Fed’s ability to reduce the interest rates further. The ratings agency believes that tariff hikes are expected to result in increased consumer prices and reduced corporate profits in the US. The increased prices can squeeze real wages, impacting consumer spending, with reduced profits and policy uncertainty weighing over business investments. Notably, upward pressure on goods prices due to tariffs would mean that the US Fed is likely to become more cautious when it comes to further rate cuts.

Tariffs Can Be Reduced, Says UBS

In the base case (to which UBS assigns a 50% probability), the firm anticipates tariffs to be reduced from the levels that have been announced. That being said, the process is expected to take some time. UBS anticipates that there can be a tariff-related slowdown in growth in Q2 and Q3. Even if tariffs get reduced by the end of the year, the shock and related uncertainty can result in a near-term slowdown in the broader US economy, impacting FY 2025 growth.

UBS believes that market uncertainty is expected to remain elevated, with investors focusing on potential downgrades to consensus US economic and earnings growth projections, the risk related to the tit-for-tat escalation, among others. Therefore, there can be an extended period of volatility for the broader US equities.

READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.

What Should Investors Do?

Despite the uncertainties, UBS expects that the market will end the year higher. Apart from themes of AI and Power and resources, the firm has identified longevity and companies benefiting from the megatrend as the third Transformational Innovation Opportunity. The investors can also consider using yield-generating strategies so that they can benefit from current increased levels of volatility. UBS says that since the tariffs have been announced, negotiations to soften can now start.

Furthermore, the tariff revenue can be utilised to offset the cost of extending tax cuts. Additionally, the Fed may respond to weakening growth by cutting interest rates. Morningstar believes that some of the leading mega-cap stocks rated as “wide moat” have experienced a decline this year.  The firm believes that wide-moat stocks are the most attractively valued, and it sees value throughout the entire range of such stocks.

Our Methodology

To list the 10 Best Fundamental Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires, we sifted through Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and Insider Monkey’s exclusive database of billionaire stock holdings to shortlist the companies that have at least ~8% revenue and net income growth over the past 5 years. For the stocks with the same number of billionaire holdings, we have used the number of hedge fund investors as a secondary metric to rank the stocks, as of Q4 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

5-year Revenue Growth: 10.7%

5-year Net Income Growth: 15.07%

Number of Billionaire Investors: 16

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is engaged in the operation of membership warehouses. Bernstein analysts upped the company’s price objective to $1,177 from the prior target of $1,167, reaffirming an “Outperform” rating. Bernstein analysts highlighted the company’s continued success in attracting consumers. Furthermore, the analysts are optimistic about Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s potential for expansion, both domestically and internationally. They believe that the company would be able to maintain a steady pace in increasing the store count, resulting in a lengthy growth trajectory for the company.

Overall, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s consistent performance and expansion strategy place it well for sustained growth over an extended period, as per analysts. Notably, S&P Global Ratings believes that the company has established a robust member base that sees value in their Costco memberships. As per the firm, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s scale as the 2^nd largest brick-and-mortar retailer in the world allows it to offer strong value to its members through reduced prices and unique products, aiding healthy renewal rates. S&P Global Ratings believes that the company’s sizable membership base is a strength since it creates customer loyalty and incentivizes increased purchases.

Madison Investments, an investment advisor, released its Q3 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability by lowering its emissions. For example, it has converted its Kirkland Signature laundry packs from plastic tubs to a pouch. This has reduced plastic packaging by 80%. It has also moved to localize production of bulky items such as water, paper, and laundry detergents. Manufacturing these goods closer to the countries in which they are sold reduces emissions associated with shipping.”

Overall, COST ranks 10th on our list of best fundamental stocks to buy according to billionaires. While we acknowledge the potential of COST as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than COST but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.