Costco & DEI. Stock price - damn I had no idea.

[underpants]

Last edited Sat Dec 28, 2024, 12:50 PM - Edit history (1)

BumRushDaShow‘s LBN thread from yesterday

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143362974

Looked it up.
I wasn’t expecting that number let alone the return/gain.

[genxlib]

1. It's the only standalone stock I own outside of mutual funds

And it has been very good to me.

[wryter2000]

11. I've owner a few shares just for the hell of it for many years

It was under $200 when I bought it. Who has stock that costs almost $1000 per share?

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. I will remain a COSTCO member.

A company that takes care of its employees, will in turn take care of the customer. The customer will tell others that this is the place to shop. No wonder their stock is up!

The one a mile away from us where we live now is busy all day from opening to closing. It announces what Holidays they are closed and the employee is paid for it. What a concept!

[walkingman]

3. I own it also - been hoping for a split announcement......soon

[allegorical oracle]

8. I have shares also. This dust-up over DEI disturbs me. It's annoying that simply because

a decent business wishes to hire good people regardless of their personal choices, ethnicity or religion, it's under attack by the RW loonies. Always thought the RW blamed us for being a "nanny state".

[walkingman]

10. Agree - the whole DEI outrage is racist BS. Glad to see someone have the guts to stay the course.

[wryter2000]

12. I've been waiting for a split forever n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

18. If Cash Flow Stays High...

...there's not a really good reason to split.
Splits are typically driven by a desire to raise cash without borrowing.
Let's say a company has a $200 stock and has 4 million shares in treasury, which with proxy & insider shares result in 30% control.
They split by 2 and sell 2 million shares, still holding 6 million.
Now, they've got $400 million in cash, and any insurance company would lend them $350 million additional (after all they already have 53.33% equity in the new project.). They now have ¾ of a billion for expansion, acquisition or integration. And, they still have a plurality interest of 22.5%.
If Costco's cash flow is string, they can just let it ride.

[dickthegrouch]

21. Thank you

I’d never understood the underlying reason for splitting stocks. This makes perfect sense.

[Think. Again.]

4. Oh yeah, the economy has been doing well, so retail is doing well too....

....especially since the false inflation problem is actually just retail price gouging. I'm sure Costco, walmart, etc are doing great!

[GreatGazoo]

5. P/E of 55 and still climbing - Yikes

Has half the footprint of WalMart. Big exposure to China tariffs.

I don't understand the appeal but there is no Costco near me so maybe I just don't understand their business. How are they better than WalMart (P/E of 37)? I see Costco uses far fewer employees.

Does Costco sell groceries? in quantities a single person would buy?

https://adainsights.com/blog/walmart-vs-costco-different-approach-same-result

[underpants]

6. Bulk buy in lots of things. Yes the do sell single size groceries

Cheap gas too.

Good deals in some electronics and clothes. People buy toilet paper and dog food a lot. You can get a whole rotisserie chicken for $5.

[hunter]

14. Costco didn't get caught up in the dog food or olive oil scandals of years past...

... so it seems their buyers are not so careless as WalMart's. Their employees seem a lot happier too.

Some of the things I buy at Costco are dog food, olive oil, coffee, flour, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, paper goods...

A lot of our kitchenware and appliances are from Costco too. These have been replacements for wedding gifts that were broken or worn out.

Since our kids have grown up and moved away most of Costco's food packages are too large for us.

[MichMan]

17. Big egg recall going on right now

An ongoing recall of Costco eggs over salmonella has been escalated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, who placed the recall in its most severe class in December 2024, about a month after the recall was initially issued.

The recall is now Class I, meaning that "there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death," according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/costco-egg-recall-may-cause-serious-illness-or-death-fda-says-as-it-raises-risk-level/ar-AA1wA6K6?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[hunter]

22. Bummer.

This a small fraction of the eggs Costco sells.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/handsome-brook-farms-issues-recall-kirkland-signature-organic-pasture-raised-24-count-eggs-because

The current list of FDA recalls can be found here:

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts

[walkingman]

9. Bullish on Costco

I don't have access to a Costco either but I think the Costco culture is what makes it such a strong company. If that ever changes, then it's competitive advantage goes away.

“If you hire good people, give them good jobs, and pay them good wages, generally something good is going to happen.”

It's biggest competitors are Walmart and Target (I also own WMT) but they still have room for growth where Walmart is everywhere....isn't it?

Admittedly it does have a high PE ratio but I think it has room for growth unless something changes? Fingers crossed! A split would help

[GreatGazoo]

19. "hire good people...good wages"

That comes across in the numbers. They are using a lot fewer employees per dollar of revenue so it makes sense that they can pay better and therefore have their pick of the best employees. Like that design and strategy.

I own a bunch of Costco via QQQ and QYLD -- yes, a split would be nice!

[QED]

7. My Costco is basically in my backyard.

Some mornings the aroma of baking muffins overwhelms me in a good way.

[live love laugh]

13. Wow I had no idea either.

[MichMan]

15. Salmonella egg recall is going on right now

An ongoing recall of Costco eggs over salmonella has been escalated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, who placed the recall in its most severe class in December 2024, about a month after the recall was initially issued.

The recall is now Class I, meaning that "there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death," according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that can be deadly when consumed by certain populations, especially those who are immunocompromised, such as pregnant people and the elderly.

The Costco egg recall affects the Kirkland Signature brand, organic pasture-raised, 24-count, grade A, large eggs. The reason for the recall is that "eggs from a positive Salmonella environment were shipped into distribution to retail facilities," according to the FDA.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/costco-egg-recall-may-cause-serious-illness-or-death-fda-says-as-it-raises-risk-level/ar-AA1wA6K6?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[druidity33]

20. What does that have to do with their share price?

And it is a supplier of Costco that made the mistake. It started as a voluntary recall affecting stores in only 5 states.

from your link:
"The Costco egg recall affects the Kirkland Signature brand, organic pasture-raised, 24-count, grade A, large eggs. The reason for the recall is that "eggs from a positive Salmonella environment were shipped into distribution to retail facilities," according to the FDA.

Handsome Brook Farms issued the voluntary recall in late November “after the company determined that eggs not intended for retail distribution were instead packaged and distributed in retail packaging,” according to the recall notice.

“Additional supply chain controls and retraining are being put in place to prevent recurrence," the statement read.

Are you being critical of Costco for some reason?

[MichMan]

23. Do you think being in the news for an egg recall that the FDA categorized as highest risk is good for the stock price ?

It is in the news right now.

Even though it is a 100 mile round trip, I like Costco and shop there occasionally. Unless my IRA mutual funds have some of it in their holdings; I don't really care about their stock price. The last time I went there I just had to show my membership card. I wasn't aware that I had to bow in reverence to the Costco corporate gods when I walked through the doors.

Are you a big stockholder?

[druidity33]

24. Um... wtf...?

It's not really National news. This is the first I have heard of it. No recall here in my state. Or in 44 other states. And guess what? The stock price looks just fine to me. Of course as someone who has never owned stock... why the fuck would i care? You just seemed.... i don't know.... a little aggressive about the egg recall. Food recalls btw happen A LOT in this country. Remember the listeria one from Boars Head a few weeks ago (for all 50 states btw)? Or the salmonella from organic carrots? Or the E Coli from lettuce earlier this year? And yeah you will usually need to show a membership card at a members only business just so you know.

[MichMan]

25. The egg recall was posted multiple times here at DU in the last three days

Apparently you missed all of those.

FDA raises recall alert to highest level on Costco eggs over risk of severe illness or death due to salmonella

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219849880

don't eat that costco egg!!! FDA: Costco eggs recalled over salmonella fears now classified as highest risk level

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219849396

Costco egg recall may cause 'serious' illness or death, FDA says as it raises risk level

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143362678

[druidity33]

26. I did in fact miss all of those...

probably because i was doing stuff these last few days (y'know...holidays?). TBH i check the Greatest threads a couple of times a day. If it hasn't made it near the top of the list i sometimes don't see it. DU is only one of the sites i frequent. (You'll note i've been here 20 years or so). But I also missed it while reading the Guardian. And I missed it while reading the NYT and the Washington Post. Granted i don't read the entire digital edition of all of those papers. I don't watch television or do Youtube, so i miss all the breathless anchors shilling the latest tragedy or controversy. As far as i can tell the recall is limited to 10,800 retail cartons in five states. The cartons have been identified. The producer is rectifying the problem. Hopefully no one else gets sick or dies. But at this point it's a non-issue. What i am more concerned about is the fucking bird flu. You think this is a problem? Wait until THAT SHIT hits the fan.

Again...

[iemanja]

16. Good. I own Costco stock.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

27. One more reason why Costco is fucking awesome. 🙌🙏👏👇

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