Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) recently released its fiscal third-quarter results, and they weren't all that great. But wouldn't you know it, Costco's stock price jumped on the news.

That's because there was a lot more in the report than meets the eye. Costco has an all-weather model that beats out its competition in some crucial ways. These differentiating factors fuel Costco's excellent business and make it an attractive stock to have in your portfolio at any time. 

Costco's business model involves charging customers an annual membership fee for the privilege of shopping at its warehouses, and then marking up products with a razor-thin margin to make the membership more attractive. The markup covers associated costs, and the membership fee goes to the bottom line.

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Source Fool.com