In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer pushed back against widespread pessimism surrounding the U.S. economy, particularly when it comes to the health of the consumer. Referencing recent data and strong bank earnings, he argued that fears of a sharp slowdown are overstated:
“Consumer spending is up nicely. I mean, for all the things you hear about, the pessimistic surveys, year over year is good. And David, I think that as we forget, as long as unemployment stays as low as it is, we’re going to surprise people in terms of the economy, despite the fact that there’s a lot of stir and drag when it comes to the White House.”
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Asked whether the consumer will remain strong in the face of tariffs and political noise, Cramer stayed optimistic, saying jobs matter more than headlines:
“I think that the agri-consumer, as long as they have jobs, yes. I don’t think they sit there and say, you know what, there’s coming tariff, I’m going to just disappear. Now you can see these numbers are pulled through. I don’t buy that. “
He then shifted to the recent dislocation in equity markets, pointing out that even companies reporting solid earnings have seen analysts cut price targets, saying:
“The reset that happened of stocks getting clogged. We’re just now starting to deal with how awful it was. The market just had, that sell-off was so quick and so vicious that companies that are reporting good numbers, the analysts are saying, listen, really good numbers. I’m cutting my price target. I’m not used to that. I’m used to really good numbers and price target bump. “
Later, citing the latest Bank of America survey showing extreme bearishness, Cramer interpreted the results as a contrarian signal that could point to an opportunity for investors:
“Well, I just think that in the end, the fundamentals are going to will out. I think that this survey about pessimism. I mean, that says buy, not sell. So, I mean, I think people are really beaten down. I know people are beaten down.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on April 15th.
For these stocks, we also 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
12. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 116
While reflecting on market sentiment and recent earnings reactions, Jim Cramer praised Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) for defying expectations. Despite fears of a potential miss, he noted that the company delivered solid results that should not be overlooked, saying:
“But why did we overlook that incredible Walmart meeting? I read every page of that Walmart meeting. I’m not saying it was boom. I’m saying it was garden variety good from Walmart. A lot of people felt that Walmart was going to miss, if anything, what they showed you. Business is pretty good. We can’t overlook that. We can’t.”
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has been impressed by Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s resilience during a volatile macro environment. Here’s what he said about the retailer a few days ago:
“Walmart pulls its operating income guidance for the current quarter. […] People thought they were going to guide down. I heard many people tell me last night, boy, are you ready for Walmart’s big guide down? […]
[after listening to the company’s CEO giving a positive outlook] It’s rather extraordinary to have a level of confidence from the largest retailer. And Doug McMillan should be applauded.
[talking about how the largest retailers have pricing power] And they have power. They have pricing power. And they can make the Japanese, look, the Chinese right now, here’s what they’re saying: we can’t go up against Walmart; we can’t!”
11. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 223
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) came up as an example of how even solid earnings can be overshadowed by sentiment-driven price target cuts. Jim Cramer defended Goldman’s performance, particularly its robust trading business, despite the market’s cautious stance. Here is what he said:
“When you look at the combination of just endless numbers of price target cuts. I mean, Goldman, there’s like eight price target cuts. Goldman had a good quarter. It just happened to be from the 500 level instead of the 600 level. The reset that happened of stocks getting clogged. […]
Goldman turns out to have a trading business that is so terrific, that it can paper over what happens with IPOs and M&As.”
10. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 150
Despite not yet reporting earnings, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) was highlighted by Jim Cramer for receiving price target bumps, an unusual show of analyst confidence in a cautious market. Here is what he said:
“The only company that is getting price target bumps today is Humana and also UNH. UNH hasn’t even reported yet.”
Jim Cramer has already made his predictions regarding UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH)’s upcoming earnings. Here are his thoughts from last week:
“Yeah, it’s a better than expected. It’s a much better than expected quarter, and I’m raising numbers. Well, that’s all they ever do. I’ve never seen them not. Maybe one quarter in the last 10 years. It’s an amazing company. I remember I was long it in 1989 and made my whole year. This thing was just a juggernaut from day one. Remember when they bought everybody too? Remember the consolidation? That was a really good thing for the industry. There’s an opportunity here.”
9. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 98
During a discussion about pharmaceutical tariffs and supply chain resilience, Jim Cramer highlighted Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) as an example of a company with strong domestic manufacturing and resilient fundamentals. He praised CFO Joe Wolk’s recent appearance on air and noted how J&J continues to be one of the premier drug developers in the country, offering long-term upside despite recent stock fluctuations. Here is what he said:
“But J&J is a good example of what’s happening. J&J stock was up a dollar. It’s up a half. I listened to Joe Wolk. He was, as usual, phenomenal on air. I know that there were some issues about tariffs. Next thing you know, it’s down two and a half. Now it’s coming back. […]
I want to recommend JNJ today. That was Joe Wolk on Squawk. He was absolutely sensational. And we left out that there were so many good things. But one thing is they do have the most domestic manufacturing. So if you do believe there’ll be a hit, they’re not going to get the hit proportionally. They actually raised; they encourage the sell-side to increase for big pharma indications the middle years and I have a call for instance, bravado, which is what something they use for depression that turned out to be it wasn’t an afterthought, but it was small. It’s trying to be very very big. They’ve got some very good things for Crohn’s disease and I would point out that J&J is still one of the great premier developers of fantastic drugs. It sells at 14 times earnings. I believe that its talc problems are now behind it because they’re going to take them one by one. They’ve only lost one case. What a great opportunity to buy a great, great American company.”
8. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 62
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was brought up as the company’s retiring CEO rang the opening bell in celebration of its 100th anniversary. Jim Cramer praised the CEO Jim Umpleby for transforming Caterpillar from a cyclical China-dependent business into a consistent, secular growth story and a net exporter. Here are his thoughts:
“Well, look, this fabulous company that’s ringing the bell today, Caterpillar, net exporter, which is what we want to encourage, right? But would you find, if someone at the end of the day said, we’re going to look into Caterpillar, would that shock you? […]
[Talking about the company’s retiring CEO] The stock’s down 18% this year, which is really, unfortunately, not representative of what he’s done. And I don’t know Joe Creed who’s coming in, but when Jim came in, Caterpillar was regarded as being episodic. And now, not only is it not in their earnings, now it was consistent. He bought back stock. He made it so it was no longer a China play, which was so long the worry. He’s just a great man. And I’m just so thrilled for Jim. Fabulous guy. Really understands, I think, the way to make it so that finally Caterpillar broke out of Episonic. When I first met him, Mike Worth introduced me to him from Chevron, and he said, I’m going to make this company so it’s not cyclical. […] And he did it. He did it. And there’s the long-term chart. And you can see that it just did well in COVID times, did well in downturns, because that’s who he is. He really figured out a way to buy back stock and change the way inventories included. David, look at that. This is an episodic, turned into a secular grower. And we were joking this morning about when Goldman downgraded it to 68 to put it to a selling. This thing never quits. And Jim probably never quits working. And he is a remarkable man in terms of what he’s done with his company. It’s worth pointing it out because, wow. Without a doubt, that is quite a move. That is a non-cyclical chart. And because he turned it into a secular grower, no longer hostage to China. And that’s why I say he’s a net exporter.”
7. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 223
While discussing industrial policy, trade tensions, and the market’s speculative behavior, Jim Cramer highlighted Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) both for its massive $500 billion commitment to U.S. chip development and its extreme popularity among short-term traders. Here is what he said:
“I think that NVIDIA commitment to the country of five hundred billion dollars was fantastic. […] The commitment NVIDIA made, if you believe in the commitments, the commitment that Apple’s made, these are good for our country. […]
Witness the Apple NVIDIA turn. Apple of course had a short squeeze on Monday. NVIDIA is like you know football stock. I mean I’m watching the NVIDIA options trade here. […]
David, Nvidia is up. […] Because the zero-day option clowns and the lunatics who trade this thing every day with the double and triple, I mean, they can kill you.”
Jim Cramer has been talking about NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) a lot in recent weeks. Here are his comments from last week:
“I mean, I see NVIDIA saying it plans to manufacture some AI chips in the U.S. and they’re doing some right now in Taiwan’s semi-foundries. What you have to do is you have to say, OK, listen, guys, you have to sacrifice some margin. […]
Also, I don’t know if you saw the notes about NVIDIA to manufacture America made AI supercomputer for US for the first time. Gigantic commitment of a half a trillion dollars. Interestingly enough, that’s the same amount that Apple committed, but people are a little suspicious of the White House about Apple. No one’s suspicious of NVIDIA because we don’t have those chips. NVIDIA’s in all the missiles. Get some checking on this. All the missiles are driven by NVIDIA chips. […]
NVIDIA was up big on Friday. I mean, I told, what I said in my tweet, the shorts will let it go up and then they will target it with zero-day options. I don’t know. I was looking at the amount of trading in NVIDIA. It’s a meme stock, OK? And that’s all it is right now. It has very little to do with the company.”
6. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 317
Jim Cramer discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the context of data center buildouts and AI-related spending. He noted a slowdown in Microsoft’s infrastructure investment and raised some questions:
“By the way, Microsoft, which has cut back. I had Chris Gorman on the show, I had the CEO of Key, and they were talking about the pause of the data center build-out by Microsoft. There’s a pause. By Microsoft specifically. […] But why is it so? Why is the relationship with with OpenAI so opaque that once OpenAI got that money, that valuation, did you notice that’s when Azure started cutting back? Yeah, they’re cancelling their data center on Mars. They’re just wiping that out.”
5. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 103
Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was mentioned in light of a report that China had halted deliveries of its aircraft as part of the ongoing trade tensions. Despite this, Cramer remained bullish, pointing to surging global demand and a five-year backlog as reasons not to worry. Here’s his analysis:
“No. I mean, look, I think that, first of all, you have to have these planes serviced by by GE, which means the relationship is not as bad as it sounds. Second, you know what? Pass those planes around. The demand for those planes is insane. Now, I know that there are a lot of stories, including a downgrade of Howmet today, which I thought was quite frankly, ill-advised, but David, there’s a shortage of planes, and someone couldn’t jump the queue and get those planes.
[On whether Boeing faces a risk from China] No, I mean, like, Kelly Ortberg should be out of here right now. He didn’t talk to, he wasn’t talking to Phil. I know that they’re a conservative company, but Kelly should be coming out right now and saying, you know what, we’re all set, guys. Do not worry about a thing. […] If he would comment about the order book, I think we would all say, why are we selling the stock down five? […]
What can I say? They’ve got, like, five years worth of demand. I mean, one of the reasons why I liked Boeing last week when I talked about it was because they have tremendous demand.”
4. PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 69
Jim Cramer referenced PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) after a surprise downgrade from Bank of America, which cited pricing pressures and declining beverage market share. Cramer viewed it as a warning about inflation’s impact on consumer staples. Here are his remarks:
“So out of nowhere, Bank of America, which has been a staunch supporter of PepsiCo, downgrades it, basically says snacks are too expensive. They’re losing share in beverages. Dave, when I read this, I said, this is the kind of thing that I’m most concerned about. These food companies have raised price, raised price, raised price. And then in the interim, it got too expensive. And they talk about the convenience store and working class people who can’t afford to get to buy things.”
3. CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 74
CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) came up during a discussion about retail pharmacy consolidation. With Walgreens and Rite Aid closing stores, Cramer noted CVS’s strength as the last major player standing. Here’s what he said:
“Have you noticed that CVS stock keeps going up because they’ve got Aetna and they’re also the only drugstore left, right? Walgreens closing, going to close a lot of stores. […] And Rite Aid’s closing stores, that leaves CVS.”
Jim Cramer remains bullish on health insurers recently. Here’s what he said about CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) earlier this month:
“The health insurers are all roaring too. Why? Because they’re domestic, very hard to tariff and they can go much higher if you want to avoid the tariff shroud. CVS, which owns Aetna, moved up against Cigna’s running.”
2. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 96
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was briefly discussed during a segment on bank earnings. Cramer credited CEO Charlie Scharf for impressive loan growth in the most recent month, despite limited investor attention. Here’s what he said:
“There is a bank called Wells Fargo. And I thought Charlie Scharf did a very good job of the loan growth in the last month was terrific. Did anyone care about the cadence there? Did they care about the cadence? No. But the last month was great. And that’s what mattered.”
Here’s what Cramer said about Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last week:
“When you listen to Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo, he’ll tell you that Main Street’s doing quite well. He’s actually seeing loan growth for the first time. […] I’m positive and constructive, and I think Charlie Scharf did a great job, and that stock should be higher. […] By the way, Michelle Bowman, I think, is going to be very positive for Wells Fargo, a deregulated Federal Reserve.”
1. Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)
Number of Hedge Fund holders: 51
Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) was cited as a model American manufacturer with strong local impact. Cramer highlighted the company’s job creation, especially in regions that are desperate for employment, and suggested it deserves more recognition from the White House, saying:
“Nucor, every time they open a plant, is responsible for about eight new jobs besides the plant. That’s what’s so great about a steel plant. Just put so many, and Nucor, by the way, only puts plans where they actually are like desperate for more employees. The president should call Nucor and bring them in to say [interrupted] You get Nucor in a room, and you just have like a bonanza of positivity. It’s time for some positivity out of the White House.”
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