The Street's Debate Over Costco Stock Continues

Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh turned bullish on Costco Wholesale Corporation COST this week and his colleague Ari Wald offered a more technical case for the stock on CNBC.

COST 'Just Getting Started'

Wald, Oppenheimer's head of technical analysis, said Costco's stock chart dating back to March 2018 shows months of outperformance before hitting a roadblock last September. Towards the end of 2019, Costco's stock became "very extended" and went on to drift back towards its 200-day moving average.

But the stock has since "worked off those overbought excesses" and is now inflecting higher again.

"We think that long term run of outperformance is just getting started again," Wald said.

Costco Stock 'Too Expensive'

Offering the other side, Laffer Tengler Wealth Management's chief equity strategist Nancy Tengler said Costco's stock is "too expensive for our blood" at 36 times forward earnings. Investors buying the stock now are "a little bit late" to the party despite management deserving credit for holding up against online competitors.

Instead of a mass "pile on" into Costco's stock, investors may want to consider instead Home Depot Inc HD. The home improvement retailer has also insulated itself against online competition and offers a 2.3% dividend yield along with a growth prospect of 24%, she said.

"We are big owners of Home Depot and sold out of our Costco last year," Tengler said.

Costco CEO Talks Special Dividend, Membership Fees In CNBC Interview

COSTCostco Wholesale Corp

$985.740.66%