Costco, Microsoft Are Stocks Fit For Recession: Goldman Sachs
Many economists and investors believe the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases will produce a hard landing for the economy – a recession.
Economists at Goldman Sachs predict a soft landing. But if there is a hard landing, they expect$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$to fall to3,150, a21% dropfrom the recent level of3,988.
With that in mind,$Goldman Sachs (GS.US)$strategists put together alistthat should benefit from a hard landing.
$Costco (COST.US)$:$Morningstar (MORN.US)$analyst Zain Akbari assigns the company a wide moat (durable competitive advantage) and puts fair value for the stock at$476. It recently traded at$487.
*“With a besotted member base, low-frills warehouses, and growth opportunities at home and abroad, we expect Costco’s durable competitive advantages to lead to consistent, strong performance despite retail’s upheaval.”
*“The competitive environment is intense and becoming more challenging…, but we believe the values that Costco offers (driven by cost leverage, procurement strength, and top-class store efficiency) should allow it to keep traffic high.”
But he warned against buying at the stock’s current lofty level.
$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$: Morningstar analyst Dan Romanoff gives the company a wide moat and puts fair value for the stock at$320. It recently traded at$239.
*“Microsoft reported solid fiscal first-quarter 2023 results [in October], including revenue and [profit] results ahead of the guidance midpoints.”
*“The outlook, however, was worse than our below-consensus model was contemplating. Macro pressures continue to weigh on the company’s performance.”
*But, “we continue to find encouragement in Azure [Microsoft’s cloud offering], Office E5 migration, and traction with the Power platform for long-term value creation,” Romanoff said. To be sure, “near-term pressures will not be exhausted within the next quarter.”
Still,“it is premature to say the Azure growth story is over despite the slowdown,”he said