Investors love to follow Warren Buffett's stock picks to get investing inspiration. But while Buffett is an investing legend who freely gives sound advice, he's not the only billionaire investor.
Others might be lesser known, but they have also been responsible for incredible wealth creation, and you might want to get to know them and their stock picks better. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 0.13%), Costco Wholesale (COST +0.80%), and Amazon (AMZN +0.20%) are three fantastic billionaire-owned stock that average retail investors might want to add to their portfolios right now.
1. Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle is the original fast-casual restaurant chain, and it has become a powerhouse company and incredible stock. It still has tons of potential in feeding burritos to its upscale clientele, and it's a favorite of Pershing Square Capital's Bill Ackman. It has been a mainstay of Pershing Square for years, making up 20% of the total portfolio, which has only seven different stocks.
Chipotle has 3,500 restaurants, and it sees the opportunity to reach 7,000 company-owned restaurants in North America alone. It has expanded internationally as well and is just getting started in global locations. It signed its first franchise agreement for restaurants in the Middle East and has already opened its first one in Kuwait.
NYSE: CMG
Key Data Points
The company sees many opportunities to grow comparable-restaurant sales as well. It continues to improve its processes and release new menu items, resulting in efficiencies and higher consumer interest. Management was able to successfully raise prices to combat inflation, and its performance has been outstanding despite the challenging economy.
The company announced a 50-for-1 stock split in March to go through at the end of June, and that's just another reason to be confident about this reliable, no-brainer stock.
2. Costco
Costco is also a no-brainer stock for reliable growth. It operates a membership model that breeds loyalty and sales growth, and it's resilient under pressure. That's why the chain continues to report strong growth in both revenue and comparable-store sales despite inflation.
The company began to feel some pressure last year from a combination of trying to build on unprecedented growth during the height of the pandemic and customers holding back on expensive purchases. Now it's back to accelerating growth that's still outdoing pre-pandemic rates. Sales increased 9.1% in the 2024 third fiscal quarter (ended May 12) driven by a 6.6% increase in comps.
NASDAQ: COST
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The membership fees go straight to the bottom line, and with an increase in those fees and high renewal rates, Costco has been reporting high profitability.
The company still has plenty of opportunity to open new stores, too, and plans to add about 25 to 30 stores annually, which is a low rate for retail chains. Each one of Costco's huge warehouses is another incredible growth driver, and this well of new sales won't dry up anytime soon.
Billionaires like Ken Fisher of Fisher Investments and Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors own Costco stock. It's been reliable for decades, and there is every reason to believe that it can continue to deliver long-term gains.
3. Amazon
Lastly, many billionaires own shares of the final stock I'll recommend today, Amazon, starting with Warren Buffett. He only bought shares for Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio in 2019, while other billionaires have owned it for much longer.
Amazon is the second-largest company in the U.S. by sales and still has a multitude of growth opportunities. Its largest businesses are in two fast-growing industries, e-commerce and cloud computing, and it dominates both of them, with an unbeatable market share of 38% of all U.S. e-commerce and 31% of global cloud spending.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
The company is ramping up its generative artificial intelligence (AI) investments and is one of the world's key players. It uses AI throughout its operations in e-commerce, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and more. Management has developed a broad advertising business that has become its fastest-growing segment, and it's building up other new segments like healthcare, streaming, and physical retail.
Amazon has been one of the highest-gaining stocks ever, and it doesn't look like its story is ending anytime soon.
