Jim Cramer Says Costco (COST) Needs to Improve Its Messaging

We recently published 8 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar.  Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is one of the stocks on Jim Cramer's radar.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is one of the largest retailers in America. It is one of Cramer’s favorite stocks despite recent sluggish performance. Even though Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s shares are down by 4% year-to-date, the CNBC TV host has continued to remain optimistic about the company. Earlier this month, Guggenheim reiterated a Neutral rating on the stock and commented that Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s membership renewal rates were seeing fresh investor attention. On December 12th, Telsey reiterated an Outperform rating and $1,100 share price target for the retailer. Some of the factors that it cited behind the optimism were Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s membership figures, sales growth, and consumer data. Cramer commented that the firm’s management needs to improve its narrative formation:

“Alright, I went with my wife yesterday, honestly, cause we had sold some last week. I said maybe it’s changed, maybe there’s no hot dog, maybe the meat section has changed. Maybe they don’t have the selection they had. No. . .and I just said, no, it’s not anything that’s visible. . .The company has not spoke well for itself. I don’t think the company’s telling a good story. You want a good story, listen to Walmart. The Walmart calls are incredible, the Costco calls have changed meaningfully. Meaningfully.

“I miss Richard Galanti. I did a little bit of a video for him when he retired, he was CFO. Longest reigning CFO. He would, tell people, on the call, that’s wrong or you don’t know, and you would say, oh my god, there goes by the grace of god I was not on that call and being told by Richard Galanti I didn’t know what I was doing. The company’s been quiet, the call itself, they talked about a choiceful consumer. Are you kidding? It’s Costco for heaven’s sake. It’s the lowest price on earth and he’s choiceful for not going there? That was embarrassing, to use the word choiceful. You don’t use the word choiceful, it’s Costco!”

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