We recently published a list of Jim Cramer’s Latest Mad Money Episode: Top 10 Stocks to Watch. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) stands against other stocks on Jim Cramer’s top stocks to watch list.
Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC made the case for investing in individual stocks to enjoy bigger gains when compared to investing in just the broader market index funds. Cramer said that while it’s “easy” to just park your money in index funds and let the market do the work, investing in individual stocks can give you some “serious gains.”
“I think you should own more than just an index fund because buying individual stocks with special characteristics is how you can rack up some really serious gains. That includes often scoring speculative stocks. Far too often, we become snobs when we talk stocks. So many experts think that if you venture past the index, you could fall off some sort of intellectual cliff that makes any gains null and void. It’s as if the huge swath of points you could have gained simply don’t count. But that, people, is nonsense.”
Cramer said banks do not “care” where the money comes from and neither should investors. He urged investors to not always avoid speculation.
“I come tonight to praise speculation. Here, I’m the only one on TV who actually does this, believe it or not, and to show you how well you could have done if you picked some high flyers for your portfolio and simply held them for the long ride, along with your prosaic, precious index funds.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s Latest Lightning Round: 11 Stocks to Watch and Jim Cramer on AMD and Other Stocks.
For this article we watched the latest programs of Jim Cramer aired on CNBC and picked 10 stocks he’s talking about. With each company we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A customer service team in an office setting using the company’s Customer 360 platform to communicate with customers.
Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 117
Talking about stocks that are getting too much “love,” Cramer said in a recent program on CNBC that Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)’s rally is “unsustainable” and the stock needs a break. However, he’s bullish on the stock and said his charitable trust owns a stake in it.
“Speaking as a big believer in Salesforce, which we own for the Charitable Trust forever, I think the stock’s been on an unsustainable tear. It needs a breather … Again, I adore Salesforce—I just wish the stock would digest its gains here because this kind of straight-up rally makes me nervous. I like stair-step movements.”
Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) is on investors’ radar because of its AI acquisitions. The company recently agreed to acquire AI voice agent firm Tenyx. This acquisition follows Salesforce’s strategic partnership with Workday to develop an AI-powered assistant for employees. The company has also agreed to buy SaaS data protection startup Own for $1.9 billion in cash.
Wall Street expects $11.12 per share in profits for Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) next year, representing a 10% year-over-year increase. For the current financial year, profits are expected to grow by 23%, with estimates trending upwards. Based on these forecasts, Salesforce trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 22, which is attractive given the AI-related growth catalysts.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“In the third quarter, we purchased new positions in Apple and Oracle and eliminated our small positions in Nike and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM). We exited our position in Salesforce to fund better opportunities in Shopify and MSCI. Salesforce is seeing slower revenue growth than we would have expected, given the weakening macroeconomic environment. Furthermore, since its core end markets in customer relationship management (“CRM”) and Service are fairly mature, a lower growth level versus our expectations could persist for some time.”
Overall, CRM ranks 4th on our list of Jim Cramer’s top stocks to watch. While we acknowledge the potential of CRM, our conviction lies in the belief that under-the-radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CRM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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