Walmart, Costco Are Consumer Stocks to Consider After Trump Tariffs, Oppenheimer Says

Key Takeaways

Investors should consider defensively oriented consumer stocks over disrectionary shares after President Trump’s latest tariff announcement, Oppenheimer analysts said Thursday.

The analysts in a note said stocks like Arm & Hammer brand owner Church & Dwight (

CHD

), Costco Wholesale (

COST

), over-the-counter products company Prestige Consumer Healthcare (

PBH

), and Walmart (

WMT

) could hold up better than those of companies like appliance maker Sharkninja (

SN

) and Target (

TGT

).

“Assuming the announced tariffs come to fruition, we clearly favor our defensive Outperform-rated names along with Ulta Beauty (

ULTA

) over more discretionary names” in the short term, Oppenheimer’s note said.

Trump late yesterday announced a broad
set of global tariffs
, which have injected fresh turmoil into markets. Read

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live coverage of
today’s trading here
.

If material tariffs stay in place and retailers are forced to raise prices, Oppenheimer said, consumer spending could take a hit. Some retailers, however, might see a near-term boost in spending as shoppers look to spend before price hikes arrive.

Some beauty products makers, such as e.l.f. Beauty (

ELF

) and Helen of Troy (

HELE

), could find it hard to maintain profit margins under the tariff regime, even with higher prices and productivity, according to Oppenheimer.

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