TD Cowen's Oliver Chen shares his top retail picks for 2026
December 24, 2025 • 4m 55s
Kelly Evans (Anchor)
00:00.070
so
if
you
missed
on
some
of
those
moves
what
do
you
do
our
next
guest
says
don't
worry
we've
got
other
retail
names
for
twenty
twenty
six
joining
us
now
is
TD
cowan
senior
retail
analyst
oliver
chen
oliver
welcome
to
you
first
of
all
do
you
stick
with
any
of
those
winners
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
00:14.030
kelly
hi
happy
holidays
we
are
still
excited
about
the
future
ahead
for
warby
parker
warby
parker
is
in
a
very
unique
industry
eyeglasses
which
is
very
duopolistic
what's
happening
there
is
real
high
net
promoter
scores
in
terms
of
pleasing
customers
also
their
partnership
with
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
00:29.350
google
in
the
future
of
glasses
that's
a
positive
two
and
continued
store
rollouts
everybody
does
need
glasses
or
increasingly
so
so
structurally
it's
a
good
industry
with
plenty
of
growth
and
innovation
ahead
and
it's
one
of
original
digital
innovators
lastly
it's
glass
is
at
a
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
00:47.470
great
price
so
it
offers
you
compelling
value
too
so
we
have
a
buy
rating
on
warby
parker
my
colleagues
are
also
very
bullish
on
denim
in
terms
of
what's
happening
in
denim
and
and
levi
's
is
a
top
idea
there
Kelly Evans (Anchor)
01:00.670
yeah
i've
heard
that
that
actually
gabrielle
von
rouge
was
saying
american
eagle
isn't
even
doing
well
because
of
their
famous
sydney
sweeney
denim
campaign
they're
actually
selling
a
lot
of
pajamas
but
regardless
they're
doing
well
so
they're
on
the
list
victoria
secret
had
a
Kelly Evans (Anchor)
01:14.110
great
month
either
one
of
those
you
you
know
you
mentioned
levis
might
be
the
way
to
to
kind
of
play
the
denim
trend
what
else
is
on
the
list
for
twenty
twenty
six
and
and
is
it
the
K
shaped
economy
do
you
is
that
a
real
thing
is
that
just
a
narrative
are
there
investments
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
01:27.430
you're
making
there
i
mean
you're
bringing
a
lot
lots
of
great
points
our
top
idea
is
walmart
we
recommended
walmart
for
several
years
i'm
a
great
example
i'm
wearing
a
fifty
dollars
blazer
from
walmart
free
assembly
and
walmart
's
capturing
the
lower
and
middle
income
consumer
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
01:42.030
as
well
as
higher
income
the
K
shaped
economy
looks
very
real
to
us
because
what
we're
seeing
in
our
data
and
our
research
is
lots
of
pressure
at
the
low
and
middle
income
consumer
the
economy
and
what's
happening
it's
somewhat
fragile
and
that
the
lower
fifty
percent
of
the
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
01:59.830
population
doesn't
really
participate
in
the
equity
market
upside
we've
seen
furthermore
the
top
twenty
percent
of
the
population
is
accounting
for
fifty
percent
of
consumer
spending
so
bottom
line
walmart
captures
both
and
that
our
data
shows
a
higher
household
income
customer
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
02:17.310
coming
to
walmart
with
walmart
plus
the
marketplace
AI
great
clothes
their
apparel
trends
are
great
but
walmart
's
also
famous
for
everyday
low
prices
i
grew
up
in
that
judicial
louisiana
going
to
the
super
center
they
have
the
best
deals
on
organic
and
pharmacy
and
food
and
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
02:33.750
grocery
is
a
hard
low
margin
business
so
our
top
ideas
walmart
because
you're
getting
that
defense
and
you're
getting
the
offense
you're
getting
chicken
as
well
as
diamonds
when
you
think
about
sam's
club
we
also
love
costco
too
i
saw
that
costco
receipt
on
your
GP
of
the
year
Kelly Evans (Anchor)
02:50.710
i
was
wearing
the
earrings
the
other
day
you
and
i
are
similar
oliver
i
grew
up
at
the
super
center
in
rockbridge
county
but
steve
what
were
you
going
to
say
i
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
02:56.750
was
going
to
ask
oliver
i
don't
cover
the
retail
stocks
that
i'm
not
much
for
brand
names
as
you
might
might
might
might
expect
but
i've
never
quite
understood
american
eagle
it
seems
like
that's
a
company
that
was
the
flavor
of
the
month
and
then
it
was
hated
flavor
of
the
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
03:13.110
month
hated
and
now
it's
liked
again
what's
what's
what
what
are
they
doing
over
there
if
you
look
at
a
five
year
chart
of
american
eagle
it's
like
up
and
down
and
up
and
down
it's
riding
a
real
roller
coaster
they
seem
to
have
the
ability
to
hang
around
though
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
03:26.830
well
steve
the
name
of
the
game
in
retail
is
like
very
heightened
competition
also
the
mall
has
been
a
tough
and
volatile
place
to
be
over
the
decades
mall
traffic
has
unfortunately
been
negative
so
and
there's
constantly
winners
and
losers
that's
why
we
like
walmart
with
the
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
03:43.030
stability
of
the
food
business
as
you
think
about
specialty
retail
fashion
volatility
is
just
part
of
part
of
the
reality
of
what
you're
facing
and
trends
can
come
in
and
out
retail
investors
are
looking
for
seamlessness
there's
also
a
major
AI
story
so
our
top
ideas
include
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
04:01.390
walmart
and
costco
we
also
like
richmond
and
cartier
but
you
and
i
have
talked
about
the
consumer
the
consumer
is
really
at
a
crossroads
with
lots
of
things
happening
meaning
the
consumer
is
very
fundamentally
strong
with
low
unemployment
and
wage
growth
outpacing
inflation
but
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
04:18.350
the
consumer
is
sentimentally
weak
so
we
have
a
bifurcation
in
terms
of
how
consumers
are
feeling
versus
what
they're
doing
and
all
of
retail
is
kind
of
caught
in
this
crossroads
and
having
to
execute
at
change
generally
speaking
apparel
is
a
very
tough
category
because
there
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
04:36.070
are
many
low
cost
alternatives
and
it's
a
willingness
to
pay
model
that's
why
we
like
beauty
that's
why
we
like
wellness
that's
why
we
like
ulta
and
then
gold
cartier
luxury
high-end
lots
of
different
ideas
but
you
can't
own
them
all
and
you
really
have
to
change
and
fashion
Oliver Chen (Senior Retail Analyst)
04:52.590
matters
too
in
some
of
these
stories
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