We recently published an article titled Jim Cramer Discussed These 7 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) stands against the other stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.

Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, recently shared his thoughts on the market’s movements this week, focusing on the economic data that’s shaping the outlook. He highlighted the upcoming nonfarm payroll report on Friday, noting its potential to sway market sentiment. Cramer pointed out that the market has been shaken by the persistently high 10-year treasury bond yields, which refuse to drop.

“Friday’s employment numbers need to show lower wage growth and disappointing hiring. Now that could bring down the yield in the 10-year and therefore make people feel that the Fed will be back on schedule to start cutting the rates again. We gotta get them back into that groove, you know. On the other hand, if hiring and wages remain hot, well then anything good that happens next week could be repealed.”

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The labor report is especially critical, according to Cramer, because despite the strength in sectors like autos, housing, and materials, the overall economy may still be running too hot for the Fed to slow it down as needed. He turned his attention to other economic indicators, such as the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which is offering strong signals of economic activity. Cramer mentioned a recent report, including Monday’s release of the PMI composite index, as an important barometer for the economy.

This data, he explained, provides valuable insights into how the economy is performing across different sectors, with particular attention to manufacturing, which has shown particularly strong performance. In addition to these key reports, Cramer also mentioned the implications of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), specifically focusing on job openings.

“I’ve been mulling over these job openings numbers and I keep thinking about how President-elect Trump might reverse the high levels of immigration we’ve seen under the Biden administration.”

Cramer warned that mass deportations could create a labor shortage that would drive wages even higher, especially if the country cannot rely on enough workers to fill the gaps. In that case, Cramer mused, “robots may be our only hope,” alluding to the role of automation in addressing potential labor shortages.

“So here’s the bottom line: It’s a light week, but still impactful, accept that people will be on edge ahead of Friday’s employment report. Still, I think you should do some buying if the market gets hammered. As we saw today, it’s not nearly as bad out there as so many think.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 7 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on January 3. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the third quarter, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) is set to report its Q4 and full-year 2024 earnings on January 10. Mentioning the company, Cramer commented:

“Delta reports too. I think it’ll be stellar. The airlines are a changed breed. They’re no longer building up capacity to meet… demand. Instead, they’re doing their best to keep capacity tight and prevent a ruinous price war. It’s still the right time to own Delta because the air traffic remains robust and profits are flowing like never before.”

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL), a prominent provider of air transportation services, offers both passenger and cargo services across a wide network of domestic and international routes. During its Investor Day, the company projected strong sales growth for 2025, anticipating increased revenue driven by a strong economy and ongoing demand for premium and international travel. Delta President Glenn Hauenstein highlighted improvements in capacity management, noting that excess capacity observed in the summer months improved by August, helping to boost revenue as the airline entered the fall season.

Over the next three to five years, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) is targeting mid-teens operating margins, 10% earnings per share growth, and free cash flow in the range of $3 billion to $5 billion. Looking ahead to 2025, the airline expects capacity growth of 3% to 4%, along with revenue growth in the mid-single digits and non-fuel unit cost growth in the low single digits.

Overall DAL ranks 3rd on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of DAL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than DAL 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.