On Wednesday’s episode of Mad Money, host Jim Cramer addressed the recent pressure facing pharmaceutical stocks and weighed in on whether the group is worth considering again.
“At last, the drug companies are trying to reclaim their old mantle as the safest place to be in a slowdown. Historically, I’ve liked the healthcare sector, but not since Donald Trump was reelected president.”
READ ALSO Jim Cramer Was Focused on These 15 Stocks Recently and Jim Cramer Recently Expressed Thoughts on These 18 Stocks
Nonetheless, Cramer acknowledged that it is an expensive and high-risk endeavor in which most compounds fail before reaching the market. Despite that, he emphasized that if scientific breakthroughs require consumers and investors to accept higher costs, he is willing to support that tradeoff. Cramer questioned whether drug stocks are worth buying after a two-day rally. He suggested that certain names in the space deserve attention.
“We know that classic safety stocks like the consumer packaged goods plays have failed to provide any safety in this environment, even the ones with large dividends. But the drug stocks with good growth, and that’s the key thing, good growth, feel safe again. If you’ve held off on buying this group, I think you should maybe wait for the next pullback and pounce. I just don’t know if we’re going to get one.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 15 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on October 1. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the second quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 900 hedge funds.
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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Jim Cramer Put These 15 Stocks Under the Microscope
15. Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 115
Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer put under the microscope. Cramer discussed it while highlighting the performance of healthcare stocks. He said:
“Some of these healthcare stocks seem played out already to you, perhaps. I mean, Merck was up 7% just today. Charitable holding Danaher also leaped more than 7%. But these stocks have been down so long, they look up to me. I believe they’ve got a lot more upside before they run out of steam. My Charitable Trust owns Danaher, and it has been a huge disappointment. It needs to demonstrate it can capitalize off of all the new drug companies coming public right now, or it will go back to the 180s.”
Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) develops medical, life sciences, biotechnology, and diagnostic products, including bioprocessing technologies, lab equipment, genomic tools, and clinical instruments. Cramer mentioned the stock during the July 24 episode and said:
“Now, we bought this one in early 2022… I expected the business to stabilize and the stock to make a comeback like that. But for one reason after another, Danaher never really found its footing…
When Danaher reported on Tuesday morning, it almost gave me a heart attack because the stock immediately got clobbered. The company actually delivered a pretty good set of numbers, a healthy revenue beat, steady organic growth, and better than expected margins, all leading up to a 16-cent earnings beat off $1.64 basis. I like that…
… Putting aside China, I think there was far more good news than bad news in this quarter. For example, while all three of Danaher’s core segments reported better than expected results, their highest margin biotechnology segment led the way, that had 8% sales growth. That’s 150 basis points of operating margin expansion and operating income of more than 12%. Wow, that’s very good…
… Here’s the bottom line: It’s been very tough to be a bull on Danaher for the past couple of years, and the company’s still not perfect. But I think we’ve finally reached the tipping point here now that the core bioprocessing business is on the rebound. That’s why we’re sticking around for the Charitable Trust and why you have my blessing to pick up some of the stock right here.”
14. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer put under the microscope. Cramer recalled his discussion with the company’s CEO, and commented:
“What else might work? Last Friday on the show, we had Joaquin Duato. He’s the CEO of Johnson & Johnson, and he told a remarkable story about game-changing cancer drugs and medical devices, especially their excellent cardio products. Now, I’ve been worried about the talc lawsuits that they have, but I believe the risk from the asbestos and the baby powder litigation has crested as J&J’s been winning the cases, and it’s planning to keep fighting them one by one. Eventually, I bet the plaintiffs will realize it’s just too costly to keep on taking J&J.”
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) develops pharmaceuticals and medical technologies spanning immunology, oncology, neuroscience, infectious disease, cardiovascular care, and pulmonary hypertension. In addition, the company provides surgical solutions, orthopedics, vision care, and neurovascular products.
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