Jim Cramer sees one clear winner from Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) latest breakup. During the October 2 episode of Mad Money, Cramer said he would be comfortable building a position in Vylor Inc. (NYSE:VYLR), the seed business spun off from Corteva, while remaining cautious about the company’s crop-protection operations.
There’s nothing particularly rare about a chemical company like Corteva that makes pesticides and herbicides, but a pure-play, genetically modified seed company? We haven’t had one of those since Monsanto sold itself to Bayer eight years ago. Now it’s buried within a broader conglomerate. In other words, Vylor has scarcity value.
Corteva has been building for the next phase of its crop-protection business, but one problem has continued to weigh on the numbers. Here’s what could determine whether that growth translates into stronger profits. While CTVA did not make it to our earlier list of best small-cap agriculture stocks to buy now, its peer took the third spot.
Why Cramer Prefers Vylor
Hedge funds were already showing interest in Corteva when its 2026 earnings outlook was taking shape. But what those investors were betting on at the time may not be the same story investors are looking at today. Cramer said the separation leaves investors with two businesses whose economics are materially different.
The remaining Corteva is all about crop protection. Vylor has genetically modified seeds… and their patents. They have many of the same customers, but the economics are very, very different. Specifically, genetically modified seeds are a high-tech, high-margin business; crop protection’s more of a commodity.
Vylor Inc.’s management expects approximately $10.4 billion of pro forma net sales in 2026 and $11.2 billion to $11.9 billion in 2029. Pro forma operating EBITDA is expected to rise from approximately $2.8 billion in 2026 to $3.3 billion to $3.7 billion in 2029. Cramer also pointed to the resilience and competitive position of the seed business, as he said:
Vylor makes incredibly resilient seeds with high prices. Even during difficult periods for farmers like 2015 through 2020, those prices held up. These guys get 71% of their sales from corn, 18% from soybeans, the vast majority of their business being done in the Western hemisphere.
Corteva’s crop-protection peer also caught Wall Street off guard earlier this year.
Innovation Supports the Premium
Cramer does not believe the competitive threat is simply a matter of technology becoming easier to develop.
And in terms of the best seeds, corn and soybeans, this is a duopoly. Market’s dominated by Vylor and Bayer. You need an insane amount of genetic research and regulatory approvals to ever be able to break into this industry, which is why I’m not worried about competition using AI to vibe-code new crops. And because these companies never stop innovating, they don’t worry too much about patent expirations. By the time old varieties go generic, the new ones are so much better that farmers have no choice but to keep paying up.
Cramer also highlighted Vylor’s 12-platform technology pipeline, which includes seven corn platforms, four soybean platforms and one wheat platform. He noted that the company is using gene editing to improve disease resistance and said hybrid wheat could eventually become a third major crop franchise, with initial launches expected next year. He said he likes the opportunity over the long term. He also mentioned its capital-return plans, saying the company is considering roughly $1 billion in annual share repurchases from 2027 through 2029, excluding major acquisitions, alongside a modest dividend. Regarding Vylor Inc.’s valuation, Cramer said:
If you go purely on an earnings basis, though, the stock ain’t cheap, selling for more than 30 times this year’s earning estimates, more than 25 times next year’s numbers. I love the business but it’s not a super fast grower, so I’d argue it’s already priced at a relevant premium. I think it deserves that premium. However, that means they have less margin for error.
Corteva Needs to Prove Itself
The remaining Corteva, Inc. faces a different set of challenges. Management has outlined approximately 3% annual sales growth and 6% EBITDA growth through 2029. Cramer said:
Corteva is the stagnant part of the business… The challenge is hitting these numbers while Corteva gets hit with lots of generic competition, especially from China. Now, the company’s been working very hard to shift towards differentiated products with less competition… But even with all that, Corteva is on track for low single digit revenue growth because the rest of their business is under so much pressure… Management says it can meet its plan without a favorable pricing cycle. I’d like to see some evidence for that in the numbers… Corteva needs innovation and efficiency to overcome the competitive environment.
Hedge Funds and Short Interest
As per Insider Monkey’s tracking of more than 1,000 hedge funds, 53 hedge funds had stakes in Corteva, Inc. at the end of the second quarter, up from 48 in the first quarter. Meanwhile, short interest in Corteva was approximately 3.1% of the float. In the end, Cramer noted that Vylor Inc. has the business characteristics he is willing to pay for, while Corteva needs to demonstrate that its new products and cost savings can overcome the pressure on older crop-protection products. He said, “In this case, I think Vylor is the one to own. Corteva needs to prove itself before I’m willing to get on board.”
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