Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is one of Jim Cramer’s top healthcare stocks even though the shares have been lackluster. They are up by a modest 27% year-to-date, with most of the gains having come since mid-June. Since June 18th, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock is up by 15%. As the shares struggled in early July, the CNBC TV host called the dip “a great level to start a position in a high-quality drug company.” Cramer then explained why he thinks that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was a high quality firm. He outlined that with the firm’s decision to divest its consumer businesses, it was “now a pure-play pharma business with no consumer exposure to begin with.” In his morning appearance on Tuesday, he outright recommended buying Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s shares:
“Now’s the time to go buy, some, if you want to, you can go buy a Johnson & Johnson, triple A credit. Sells at a lowest multiple that it’s had in years. Going for a spinoff, go for it. Go for it.”
Since Cramer’s remarks, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s shares are up by 5%. Ever the watchful hawk, he tweeted as the week ended:
“Market circling back to NON-semi tech, a la JNJ”
The last time Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s credit rating was discussed was in April 2025. Back then, S&P Global reaffirmed a AAA rating as it remarked that the healthcare company had kept its leverage below 1x, generated stable growth from its Innovative Medicine and MedTech businesses and would avoid large cash outflows from its talcum powder lawsuits. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s balance sheet as of March 29th listed loans and notes payable and long term debt of $54.9 billion. For the same period, the firm’s total current assets were $59 billion.
Guggenheim discussed Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s shares on July 17th. It reiterated a Buy rating and a $270 share price target following the firm’s second quarter earnings report. The firm outlined that it had updated its model following the latest prescription data and added that it expected Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to report earnings in line with FactSet consensus, as per The Fly.
During Q4 2025, 104 out of the 1,041 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had bought Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s shares. In the next quarter, i.e., Q1 2026, the number jumped to 113 out of the 1,021 hedge funds. Some notable stakes came from Fisher Asset Management, GQG Partners and AQR Capital Management, while Balyasny Asset Management‘s position jumped by 1,411% to $146 million.
While we acknowledge the potential of JNJ to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than JNJ and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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