Jim Cramer’s 17 Stock Calls Like PepsiCo, CVS, and Advice to Stick with Large Tech

In this article, we will look at Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. The host of CNBC’s Mad Money on Thursday encouraged investors to remain patient with technology giants that have been underperforming rather than giving up on them.

There’s a reason that so many of us in this business love to talk about the biggest companies on Earth, but we need to stop making endless comparisons among them just because they’re all colossal in size and many of you own them… I think we need to accept an old adage that my grandma Mary always told me: comparisons are odious, especially comparisons involving the trillion-dollar giants that dominate the daily discussion of the stock market. Why? Because comparisons are only useful when the companies really have something in common beyond their scale. And often they’re considered to be carbon copies of each other, and that’s just not true.

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Cramer also said that at some point, one of these companies will announce on an earnings conference call that AI products have become a reason for raising financial guidance. He said that when that happens, the news will spark a powerful rally across the entire group of large technology companies. He added that the move could be so significant that investors who stayed on the sidelines would regret missing the opportunity.

How do I know this? Because unfortunately, they all trade together. Right now, we’re in a sink one, sink them all situation. But the bottom line: We get one, just one, of these heavy hitters saying its AI business is now profitable, then you can forget about owning a commodity semiconductor stock. Instead, you’ll go for the hyperscaler that’s spewing so much cash flow that it won’t even know what to do with the money. And you’ll be left holding commodity companies that can’t hold a candle to any of these giants, even if they are decidedly not from one big happy family.

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 17 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on July 9. We present the stocks in the reverse order in which Cramer mentioned them.

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Jim Cramer’s 17 Stock Calls Like PepsiCo, CVS, and Advice to Stick with Large Tech

17. National HealthCare Corporation (NYSE:NHC)

National HealthCare Corporation (NYSE:NHC) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Cramer mentioned the stock during the episode and stated:

Last but not least, there’s National HealthCare Corp. Take a look at the daily chart. This is another operator of senior housing that’s been putting up good numbers. Fitzpatrick points out that National HealthCare has a reliable repeating pattern where the stock pulls back to the 50-day moving average and then institutional buyers snap it up… If the stock gets too far above the 50-day moving average, these institutionals seem to close up shop and wait for a better entry point.

We’ve seen the same pattern seven times over the past year. Now, in Fitzpatrick’s view, this kind of pattern needs periodic rest before it can trigger another rally. He points out that National HealthCare’s experienced a series of flat tops that ultimately led to next buying opportunity, as the floor of support at the 50-day, this is another one, it’s the 50-day moving average gradually catches up with the share price. At this point, he thinks the stock’s moving up to another level, but it won’t be too long before we get another shallow pullback that could make for an excellent entry point.

National HealthCare Corporation (NYSE:NHC) manages senior living, skilled nursing, homecare, and hospital facilities that provide medical care, rehabilitation, and daily living assistance. Additionally, it runs pharmacies, offers behavioral health treatments, and provides business management services.

16. The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNTG)

The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNTG) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Cramer highlighted the company’s use of AI, as he said:

Next, let’s talk about senior housing operators like Pennant Group and National HealthCare Corp. Check out the weekly chart of Pennant, oh man. As an operator of senior living communities, the biggest expense isn’t buildings; it’s people, okay? That’s why Pennant has been embracing artificial intelligence to make its employees more efficient and basically do more with less. Fitzpatrick noticed that Pennant peaked at around $36 in late 2024 before pulling back 40%.

Since then, though, the stock has repeatedly found buyers at the $22 level… Over the next 20 months, Pennant trated sideways, forming a round base that looks like a bowl. I love bowl patterns. Basically, every time the stock comes down, institutional money managers would step up and basically prop it back up, and they never stopped buying the stock. Finally, just a couple weeks ago, all that supply below 37, well, it was soaked up.

So that same institutional buying pushed Pennant higher and higher. Now, they’re running it up on high volume at this point… At the end, the stock’s broken out above its key ceiling and resistance at 37. Today, it crossed above 40. And based on the depth of the action here, I gotta tell you something, this thing can sail to $55, I agree with Fitzpatrick, before the end of the year. That would be a very nice move. You want to be in on that move. I don’t see much resistance at all.

The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNTG) operates agencies that deliver clinical nursing, specialized therapies, and compassionate hospice care for terminally ill patients. Moreover, the company manages senior living communities that provide older adults with residential housing, meals, housekeeping, and daily living assistance.

15. Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Cramer praised the company’s chart, as he commented:

Why don’t we start with the weekly chart of the biggest one, the one everybody knows if you’re following this industry, and that’s Welltower. It’s a real estate investment trust that owns one of the largest senior housing portfolios in America. Welltower owns the real estate and partners with different operators to manage many of them. But ultimately, Welltower’s a landlord. When you look at the weekly chart, you can see that Welltower’s been in a magnificent three-year uptrend, that is so clean, no signs of slowing down at all. And it makes sense.

They own lots of senior housing in a world where the 80-plus demo is skyrocketing. Fitzpatrick (Dan Fitzpatrick, founder of Stock Market Mentor) points out that the 40-week moving average… shows strong institutional buying every time Welltower share pulls back… The professionals come in, and they load up the truck.

The top of the trading range shows you that how far the stock can run before these institutions back away- some room there. But Fitzpatrick believes this stock can keep chugging higher. He thinks you can buy Welltower right here, right now, but you should leave room to buy a little more in weakness. Maybe the next time the stock pulls back to around its 40-week moving average… And that’s a very solid line of support. That’s a very pretty chart, people.

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) is an S&P 500 company that offers a portfolio of over 2,500 rental and wellness housing communities tailored for older adults. The firm uses its own data science and operating platforms to drive capital allocation.

14. Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS)

Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Toward the end of the lightning round, when a caller mentioned that they like the company, Cramer said:

And so do I, and not just because… CarTech is one of Philly’s best. You got a terrific company there. What a great chart, too. I think I would buy some here and buy some if it comes down. But definitely add some right here.

Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) distributes specialty metals, including titanium alloys, stainless steels, alloy steels, tool steels, and metal powders, as well as engineered metal parts. The company’s products are used in aerospace, defense, medical, transportation, energy, industrial, and consumer markets. A caller inquired about the stock during the April 10 episode, and Cramer replied:

It’s an amazing company, CarTech, and I think that you should just hold on to it. I always think of Nucor, and then I think of CarTech…

13. Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY)

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. When a caller inquired about the stock, Cramer remarked:

Okay, here’s the problem: Weyerhaeuser, if rates go up, this stock goes down, and people think rates are going higher. If you think rates are going lower ultimately, then you would start buying the stock right here. I’m more bullish on it than the rest of Wall Street.

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) operates as a real estate investment trust that manufactures wood products and sustainably manages millions of acres of timberlands. In addition, the company runs businesses in energy, real estate, and climate solutions. Kopernik Global All-Cap Equity Fund stated the following regarding Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

The Strategy initiated multiple new positions during the quarter. We have recently been finding significant opportunities in the global timber industry. Timber is a relatively scarce, needed asset that is significantly undervalued by the markets, in our opinion, and timber producers provide an opportunity to take advantage of that mispricing. The Strategy initiated positions in two U.S.-based timber producers, Rayonier Inc. and Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY). All of these companies are undervalued on multiple metrics and trade at significant discounts to Kopernik’s estimates of their risk-adjusted intrinsic values.

12. Lemonade, Inc. (NYSE:LMND)

Lemonade, Inc. (NYSE:LMND) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Starting the lightning round, a caller asked what Cramer thinks of the stock, and he replied:

I wish they could make some money… I mean, that would be good. You know, it would change my view on it if they started making money; that would make it into a better stock and a better company.

Lemonade, Inc. (NYSE:LMND) provides insurance products, including renters, homeowners, car, pet, and life insurance. The company offers coverage for property damage and personal liability while also acting as an agent for other insurers. During the episode aired on March 26, Cramer mentioned the company and said:

Look, it is a tough market. We’re asking everybody about stocks, but the real companies under it, too. What do we make of the recent action, for instance, in the stock of Lemonade, the insurance technology company that uses AI to set its policies? Here’s a stock that came public with a bang in 2020, then languished a bit after the pandemic, going through the meat grinder like so many others in 2021, 2022, and then spending the next couple of years moving sideways. But over the past 18 months, as people recognize the value of AI, Lemonade’s growth has accelerated, while its losses have shrunk and the stock climbed from the mid-teens to a high of just under $100 earlier this year. Now, of course, as the market got choppy in recent months, this thing’s pulled back, just under $66 as of today, like many other stocks. I gotta tell you, I think this is a compelling story… I have to tell you, this may be the kind of stock you buy in one of these sell-offs.

11. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL)

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Cramer mentioned that Sterling and Preformed Line Products both operate in “different parts of the AI infrastructure stack,” and said:

… Really, really struck me as a great one called Sterling Infrastructure. These are the guys doing the construction, engineering, contracting, buying a lot of the power infrastructure in data center build-outs we keep hearing about. We had Sterling CEO Joseph Cutillo on the show; that was February 27th. Get this, the stock was… [in] $420s. Just a few months later, and it’s down in the $700s. It’s up more than 200% over the past 12 months… Now, Preformed Line Products and Sterling operate in different parts of the AI infrastructure stack. To start, Sterling is a services provider… They’re similar in that they’re both tied to key bottlenecks in one of the biggest build-outs in history. Sterling helps solve the bottleneck at the very beginning: physical construction, engineering, and site prep… I think both are good places to be, and the market seems to agree with me. These are two smaller companies that benefit from all the CapEx, construction, everything that goes into a data center, and the systems connecting them, every cable, every line, every connector, and every piece of hardware that makes the build-out work.

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) provides e-infrastructure, transportation, and building solutions, including site development for data centers, industrial facilities, and public works projects. In addition, the company offers concrete, plumbing, and surveying services for residential and commercial construction.

10. Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC)

Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Cramer was bullish on the stock during the episode, as he stated:

After decades where software was in charge, now it’s all about setting up massive buildings, filling them with tech, and even building new power plants to supply them with electricity. That’s how something like a Caterpillar’s become a big AI winner, and it’s why Preformed Line Products keeps winning. In its latest quarter, the company delivered a monster earnings beat… Look, the electric grid hasn’t grown much in this country in the last couple of decades, but now there’s a colossal amount of spending to make the grid much faster and more powerful… I think PLPC is a great derivative play on the market’s biggest theme. I think you’re getting a nice entry point here given the recent pullback. Sure, it’s doubled over the last year, but I don’t think it’s crazy anymore to buy a stock like Preformed at 35 times earnings in this data center-obsessed market.

So here’s the bottom line… Preformed Line Products Company is a small but critical part of the AI build-out. If you believe in this story and you believe the company can earn nearly $13 per share in 2028, which is what the analysts are projecting, then you’ve got my blessing to put a position on right here. Now, look, ideally, the stock would pull back a little bit more… Because I don’t see the data center build-out slowing down anytime soon. But the stock has already pulled back. I say you’re getting it at a much better level than I thought you’d get anytime soon.

Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC) manufactures hardware systems, solar mounting solutions, and EV foundations for building and maintaining overhead, ground, and underground networks. The company supplies these products and drone inspection services to energy utilities, communication providers, and field contractors.

9. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC)

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. A caller inquired whether it is too late to get into the stock, noting that it is up around 70% in 2026. Cramer replied:

No, it’s not. No, it’s absolutely not. I think this is a long-term winner. I’ve been saying this over. Oh, hold it, Marriott Vacations or Marriott Hotels? Two different stories, but I like them both… Okay, that’s Marriott Vacations, not as good as Marriott Hotels. I prefer Marriott Hotels, much better longer-term growth.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) oversees the development, marketing, and management of vacation ownership products across several hospitality brands. The company also operates vacation exchange networks, provides financing for consumer purchases, and delivers property management services for other resorts.

8. CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Noting that healthcare stocks have been out of favor for some time, a caller asked if the stock is a buy, sell, or hold. Cramer stated:

It’s a strong buy. Why? Because this David Joyner has come through the scrum. Well, where do we see a Walgreens? Very few of them. We don’t see Rite Aids anymore. They’re gone. The only real competitor to CVS is Amazon, and CVS has got Aetna; Amazon doesn’t. Aetna is crushing it. Buy the stock of CVS. I sure wish I’d done it for my Trust.

CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) provides healthcare solutions through insurance, pharmacy benefit management, and retail pharmacy services. Cramer discussed the stock during the July 1 episode, as he commented:

How about these outsized moves in the health insurers and the drug distributors? Oh, I like these. I bet the gains in CVS will be long-lasting. I like UnitedHealth very much here. Humana is doing great.

7. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Cramer commented on the company’s earnings and management commentary, as he said:

This morning, PepsiCo reported a quarter that looked fine on the surface, but failed to wow when you got to the fine print. Meanwhile, the stock, once a market darling, has turned into an ugly duckling. On the conference call, management admitted that inflation and the price of gasoline caused domestic snack sales to fall. That led to a collapse in the stock… This quarter, I think some of the largest distributors had enough and demanded price rollbacks… It wouldn’t shock me if Walmart forced PepsiCo’s hand and demanded rollbacks…

I think it was the rollbacks in the traditional grocers plus the sticker shock of the convenience stores that made it so no matter what Pepsi did, it couldn’t grow the business. Now, they’ve tried things to forestall this moment. I know they want to stick by their innovation playbook. I respect that. They’re tremendous cost cutters too, but maybe they just have to take the darn hit and cut the price of their products big time, take a ton of market share, and then three quarters from now, they can have a much better return. I fear, as others do, that this is the beginning of a slow rollback in pricing. I say rip the band-aid off. Go back to prices from 10 years ago before the endless increases and get realistic.

You raise prices too much, too often for a country that’s now weight-obsessed, health-obsessed, and GLP-1 obsessed, and you’re just not going to make as much money for a bag as you’d like to. Now, PepsiCo gets about half of its sales from overseas, and that business is terrific. They need to make international much bigger to lessen the impact of Frito-Lay’s domestic pain. Here’s the bottom line: I fear now that only drastic pricing can reverse a domestic dive, something, by the way, the CEO Ramon Laguarta disagreed with when we interviewed him on Squawk on the Street. In truth, I thought Ramon wasn’t really disagreeing with me. I think he was subtly disagreeing with the action in the stock, and that’s actually not that great an idea when you’re running a publicly traded company.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) produces, markets, and distributes beverages and convenient foods, including snacks, cereals, dairy, and ready-to-drink products.

6. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money, as he advised investors to stick with the largest tech companies in the market. Asking for Cramer’s opinion, a caller inquired if they should buy, sell, or hold the stock. He replied:

I want you to buy the stock… of IBM. You buy some now and then, it’s been having these kind of panic fits, just panic attacks, you buy the rest then. I think IBM’s terrific. It’s inexpensive and Arvind Krishna’s doing a fantastic job.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) provides software, consulting, and cloud and on-site technology solutions, along with financing to help clients use its products. During the June 4 episode, a caller asked whether the company can generate enough returns to justify its valuation. The Mad Money host responded:

Oh, okay… look, I think you raised a really interesting question. You said it was up, down, up, down. This stock is up about 80 points in like a week. I think we gotta give it a chance. I want it to come down before I can give it my seal of approval. And I like it very much, but it’s up on a spike, and you know, I don’t recommend a parabolic move… It’s hardly ever worked.

Click to continue reading and see Jim Cramer’s 5 Stock Calls Like NVIDIA, Meta, and Advice to Stick with Large Tech.

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