13 Companies we’re watching closely

From 60+ deep dives, these 13 companies made our watchlist

Jun 02, 2025

We as humans, and as investors, are explorers. There are over ten thousand publicly traded companies in the entire investing universe. You have the option to research and invest in all these ten thousand companies.

You can also choose to buy the entire universe by owning and ETF. That’s not the game we play, we are here roaming the Milky Way with one mission:

To help you discover the brightest stars within the investing universe

To accomplish this mission, we analyzed over 60 companies already. To give you a grasp of the companies we analyzed:

These analyses are not just a quick scan, but an extensive research report per analysis.

In this article, we’ll share which of these 60 companies ended up on our watchlist.

Some didn’t end up on the watchlist, but in our personal portfolios. If you’re curious which companies these are, consider joining TDI-Premium. Some benefits premium offers you:

🦁 The TDI-Watchlist

EssilorLuxottica

Our two cents: A near-monopoly that we would place instantly in a high-moat ETF. However, the valuation is high and with its current position in the industry EssilorLuxottica has more to lose than to win. The key is to find companies like Essilor in the stage when their moat is being built. That’s where you'll find gold.

Costco

Our two cents: Pure business heritage. A prime example of how to build a brand and a fantastic company. They have the strongest form of a moat in the world: scale efficiencies shared. Amazon ripped this page out of Costco’s playbook and used it to build the biggest company in the world (revenue wise).

Visa

Our two cents: Amazing company. Outperformance is limited because of the predictability of the business. Only way to beat the market with Visa is to hold it longer than all short-term focused professionals do.

Anyway, amazing story that helps you understand the world better.

Hermes

Our two cents: Where LVMH is the king of luxury conglomerates, Hermes is the king of single-focus brands. With a 187-year history, Hermès is one-of-a-kind. We dare to bet that Hermes will be relevant 100 years from now. If you were able to recognize this value 5 years ago, you are true a legend. However, we believe Hermès’ value is already priced into its stock price.

Ryanair

Our two cents: We would never invest in an airline stock, unless it’s structurally the cheapest. This is because being the cheapest is the only durable moat an airline company can have. Combine this with amazing management and you have a beautiful company. However, also Ryanair must deal with fluctuating fuel costs and ever rising personnel costs. These characteristics make us hesitant.

Netflix

Our two cents: We still feel like we missed a 100% gain after Netflix dropped in 2024. The facts were publicly available that Netflix was still a quality company. Yes, we made a mistake, we should’ve bought Netflix in 2024. However, while the stock price doubled since 2024, revenues and profits haven’t. Meaning Netflix also has gotten more expensive. Because of that, we are still on the sidelines hoping for another drop.

Texas Roadhouse

Our two cents: Amazing company we simply discovered a bit too late. The increase in valuation made us hesitant to pull the trigger. Because the moat of restaurant companies is so subtle and qualitative, we prefer to dine at a Texas Roadhouse ourselves before buying the shares.

Heico:

Our two cents: Clearly a qualitative company with strong management. The market also acknowledges this by paying a P/E of 55 for Heico. These valuations, combined with the fact we have limited sight on the industry, make us hesitant to step in.

Portillo’s

Our two cents: Portillo’s is like Texas Roadhouse at an earlier stage. Portillo’s has the best Average Unit Volume in the entire industry. The potential to keep scaling the Chicago-style concept, the potential is huge. Our doubts are in the fact that the company is not founder-led, reporting is not investor friendly, and it's uncertain whether the concept will work in other states.

EVS:

Our two cents: Our analyst Luuk was on the brink of buying the shares. He didn’t because he had doubts about the limited market opportunity and the limited skin in the game of the management team. Still, the company is on top of his watchlist.

Shimano

Our two cents: The only Japanese company on our watchlist. The company is family-owned and is the clear market leader within its industry with a 50% market share. While we are convinced of the moat, the valuation and capital allocation don’t seem attractive. Therefore, none of us owns the company. If we would build a more conservative portfolio, Shimano would be included.

MSCI

Our two cents: A company that should be on everyone’s watchlist. While its methods surrounding ESG are questionable, there is no denying MSCI’s business model is powerful and profitable. By operating as a toll bridge for ETFs and ESG rating, they are one of the most resilient companies in the world with a long runway to grow. If it ever drops, we are willing to buy.

Games Workshop

Our two cents: The most unique company we analyzed yet, and maybe the most unique company in the world. With software-like profit margins for a game publisher (Warhammer) this company is doing an incredible job. The main risk is the total reliance on Warhammer, however as long as the already loyal customer base remains loyal and continues growing, Games Workshop will do amazing.

Which companies are in our personal portfolios?

You now know which companies are at the top of our watchlist. However, for various reasons, none of our analysts own them.

To gain insights into our portfolios and the performance of all four of our personal portfolios, you’ll need to join TDI-Premium. Premium members not only know what we own, but are also updated about buys and sells and receive updates when there are developments with one of the companies.

All of this, on top of the research we do to find new additions for our own (and potentially your) portfolio. You know, to add to the 60+ companies we already analyzed.

Before we end this article, we would like to remind you one more time of our mission: