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Jim Cramer Praises Costco Wholesale (COST) For ‘Not Gouging’ and Doing ‘Great Things’

We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Says You Should Buy These 10 StocksSince Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) ranks 6th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.

Jim Cramer last week talked about the decline of tech stocks after the latest CPI report, saying investors “abandoned” tech stocks like “rats from the sinking ship.”

“It was titanic! They took their money and went all in on small and medium-sized companies we call the Russell 2000 because we got a much softer than expected consumer price index.”

Cramer said that the latest CPI number shows inflation “has been beaten” and interest rates are “coming down.” The CNBC host said if we keep getting positive data, he won’t be surprised to see not one but two or three rate cuts this year.

Cramer wondered how major tech companies could fall on the low inflation numbers, and answered his own question by saying that sometimes in the backdrop of lower bond yields stocks of companies that “need lower rates” can suddenly rise.

“What happened today always happens when rates plunged,” Cramer said.

However, Cramer said that there isn’t enough positive data available yet to keep supporting this rally of stocks that benefit from lower rates, adding that such short-term rallies last for about three days. Cramer predicted that big tech stocks will be back after a “few more plunging days.”

For this article we watched several latest programs of Jim Cramer and picked 10 stocks he’s bullish on. With each company we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

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Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 65

Jim Cramer in a latest program talked about Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) membership fee hike, saying it’s significant because the company had planned not to raise its fees “until they saw inflation under control.”

Cramer said that Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is the “first line of defense on deflation” followed by Walmart.

“Congratulations to Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) for not gouging, for doing great things. Fantastic job!” Cramer said.

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.

Madison Sustainable Equity Fund stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:

“Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) reported solid holiday results and announced a special dividend of $15 per share. Earnings were better than expected driven by better gross margin. Same store sales were 3.9% with solid traffic. Costco also noted better discretionary trends and solid seasonal sales.”

Overall, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) ranks 6th on Insider Monkey’s list titled Jim Cramer Says You Should Buy These 10 Stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COST but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: Analyst Sees a New $25 Billion “Opportunity” for NVIDIA and Jim Cramer is Recommending These Stocks.

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

AI, Tariffs, Nuclear Power: One Undervalued Stock Connects ALL the Dots (Before It Explodes!)

Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal!

AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous.

Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink.

Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking:

Where will all of that energy come from?

AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse.

Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning:

“The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.”

Elon Musk was even more blunt:

“AI will run out of electricity by next year.”

As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity.

And that’s where the real opportunity lies…

One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike.

As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity.

The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom

  • It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets, positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy.
  • It’s one of the only global companies capable of executing large-scale, complex EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) projects across oil, gas, renewable fuels, and industrial infrastructure.
  • It plays a pivotal role in U.S. LNG exportation—a sector about to explode under President Trump’s renewed “America First” energy doctrine.

Trump has made it clear: Europe and U.S. allies must buy American LNG.

And our company sits in the toll booth—collecting fees on every drop exported.

But that’s not all…

As Trump’s proposed tariffs push American manufacturers to bring their operations back home, this company will be first in line to rebuild, retrofit, and reengineer those facilities.

AI. Energy. Tariffs. Onshoring. This One Company Ties It All Together.

While the world is distracted by flashy AI tickers, a few smart investors are quietly scooping up shares of the one company powering it all from behind the scenes.

AI needs energy. Energy needs infrastructure.

And infrastructure needs a builder with experience, scale, and execution.

This company has its finger in every pie—and Wall Street is just starting to notice.

Wall Street is noticing this company also because it is quietly riding all of these tailwinds—without the sky-high valuation.

While most energy and utility firms are buried under mountains of debt and coughing up hefty interest payments just to appease bondholders…

This company is completely debt-free.

In fact, it’s sitting on a war chest of cash—equal to nearly one-third of its entire market cap.

It also owns a huge equity stake in another red-hot AI play, giving investors indirect exposure to multiple AI growth engines without paying a premium.

And here’s what the smart money has started whispering…

The Hedge Fund Secret That’s Starting to Leak Out

This stock is so off-the-radar, so absurdly undervalued, that some of the most secretive hedge fund managers in the world have begun pitching it at closed-door investment summits.

They’re sharing it quietly, away from the cameras, to rooms full of ultra-wealthy clients.

Why? Because excluding cash and investments, this company is trading at less than 7 times earnings.

And that’s for a business tied to:

  • The AI infrastructure supercycle
  • The onshoring boom driven by Trump-era tariffs
  • A surge in U.S. LNG exports
  • And a unique footprint in nuclear energy—the future of clean, reliable power

You simply won’t find another AI and energy stock this cheap… with this much upside.

This isn’t a hype stock. It’s not riding on hope.

It’s delivering real cash flows, owns critical infrastructure, and holds stakes in other major growth stories.

This is your chance to get in before the rockets take off!

Disruption is the New Name of the Game: Let’s face it, complacency breeds stagnation.

AI is the ultimate disruptor, and it’s shaking the foundations of traditional industries.

The companies that embrace AI will thrive, while the dinosaurs clinging to outdated methods will be left in the dust.

As an investor, you want to be on the side of the winners, and AI is the winning ticket.

The Talent Pool is Overflowing: The world’s brightest minds are flocking to AI.

From computer scientists to mathematicians, the next generation of innovators is pouring its energy into this field.

This influx of talent guarantees a constant stream of groundbreaking ideas and rapid advancements.

By investing in AI, you’re essentially backing the future.

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A New Dawn is Coming to U.S. Stocks

I work for one of the largest independent financial publishers in the world – representing over 1 million people in 148 countries.

We’re independently funding today’s broadcast to address something on the mind of every investor in America right now…

Should I put my money in Artificial Intelligence?

Here to answer that for us… and give away his No. 1 free AI recommendation… is 50-year Wall Street titan, Marc Chaikin.

Marc’s been a trader, stockbroker, and analyst. He was the head of the options department at a major brokerage firm and is a sought-after expert for CNBC, Fox Business, Barron’s, and Yahoo! Finance…

But what Marc’s most known for is his award-winning stock-rating system. Which determines whether a stock could shoot sky-high in the next three to six months… or come crashing down.

That’s why Marc’s work appears in every Bloomberg and Reuters terminal on the planet…

And is still used by hundreds of banks, hedge funds, and brokerages to track the billions of dollars flowing in and out of stocks each day.

He’s used this system to survive nine bear markets… create three new indices for the Nasdaq… and even predict the brutal bear market of 2022, 90 days in advance.

Click to continue reading…