In his recent episode of Mad Money, host Jim Cramer focused on the upcoming market events, emphasizing the importance of new consumer price index data alongside a series of reports as the earnings season kicks off.
Cramer pointed out that the Labor Department’s nonfarm payroll report revealed significant job growth in September, surpassing expectations. He highlighted the significant rally in stocks on Friday, a response to better-than-expected job creation figures. The U.S. economy added 254,000 jobs in September, significantly exceeding Wall Street’s estimate of 150,000. Additionally, there were upward revisions for the previous two months, with 72,000 more jobs reported for July and August combined.
Despite his initial expectation that stocks would decline as bond yields surged, Cramer noted the resilience in the market. He observed that people seemed to feel relief, thinking that a major economic downturn was not on the horizon, which prompted a flurry of buying activity in the stock market. He added, “Maybe we aren’t headed toward a landing at all.” He described the situation as quite unusual and, in his view, “quite exciting”.
He mentioned that on Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will publish notes from its last month’s meeting, which could clarify the central bank’s bold choice to cut interest rates by 50 basis points. According to Cramer, Wall Street is rife with speculation about the Federal Reserve’s future actions, especially following strong labor statistics released last Friday. As speculation swirls around whether the next cut will be 25 or 50 basis points, Cramer leaned towards the belief that it would likely be 25 or nothing at all. He added:
“Then again, what really matters is the overall direction for rates, and that direction is most definitely lower, which is bullish for stocks”
He also mentioned that Friday would bring the producer price index report, which, like the consumer price index, will serve as a critical indicator for the Fed’s upcoming decisions. Cramer commented:
“Here’s the bottom line: a market that appreciates good news, like a robust job creation number, is a market that can handle, well, let’s just say, the historically tough month of October. After today’s performance, all I can say is so far so good.”
11 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar Right Now
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 11 stocks that were mentioned by Jim Cramer during his episode of Mad Money on October 4. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the second quarter, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of more than 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).
11 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar Right Now
11. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) operates as a prominent investment management firm and is recognized for offering global risk management and advisory services while managing a variety of portfolios, including equity, fixed income, and balanced investments. It offers a wide range of investment products, such as mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and hedge funds, spanning multiple asset classes. Cramer talked about the company’s famed software and CEO and said:
“Larry Fink’s done an incredible job, not only in making money but also in producing the best asset management software. I don’t think this company gets nearly enough credit for either and its stock deserves to trade higher. I think you could break out here.”
In the second quarter, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) reported a significant increase in technology services revenue, which rose by $36 million from the same quarter in 2023 and by $18 million compared to the first quarter of 2024.
The growth was owed to a strong demand for Aladdin technology offerings. The annual contract value (ACV) also increased by 10% year-over-year, highlighting sustained interest in the full range of Aladdin’s capabilities.
Management has noted that the long-term potential lies in utilizing the company’s Aladdin platform and capital markets expertise to develop indexing solutions for private markets. Aladdin not only serves as a critical technology for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) but also supports many of its clients, who are increasingly adopting these technological investments within the fintech and data ecosystems.
Baron FinTech Fund stated the following regarding BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Despite share price performance in the fintech sector lagging broad market indices, fintech sector fundamentals remain strong with mid-teens earnings growth across the Fund. We continue to invest behind secular themes where the intersection of financial services and technology should drive innovation and growth for years to come.
One of these themes is the growth of private markets, which are the fastest growing segment of asset management with alternative assets expected to reach nearly $40 trillion by 2030. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is acquiring Global Infrastructure Partners, a leading independent infrastructure fund manager with over $100 billion in AUM, to capitalize on the growing need to modernize digital infrastructure, upgrade supply chains and logistics infrastructure, and invest in renewable energy. BlackRock also announced the acquisition of Preqin, a leading private markets data vendor, to provide standardized information, benchmarks, and analytics in an $8 billion data market expected to grow 12% annually through the end of the which allows the proceeds to be invested in highly rated private credit with higher yields but less liquidity than publicly traded fixed income securities with the same credit risk. This illiquidity premium is highly valuable in an industry with narrow spreads, providing a competitive edge to well-managed annuity providers that invest in private credit. In addition, higher interest rates combined with a growing population of retirees are spurring greater demand for guaranteed income products. Fixed annuity sales grew 37% in 2023 and have more than doubled since 2021, providing a greater supply of capital that can be invested in highly rated private credit.”
10. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) is a leading provider of scheduled air transportation services for passengers and cargo, operating on a vast scale both domestically and internationally. The company’s domestic network is centered around key hubs, including Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City. Talking about the company, Cramer commented:
“Let me get results from Delta. The airlines came on strong today with huge insider buying at Southwest Air. After that reorg, I’m not a buyer of the airlines. They’re too fickle for me. But I bet Delta tells a good story.”
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) also maintains coastal hubs in major cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle. Internationally, the airline has established a strong presence with hubs in notable cities like Amsterdam, Bogotá, Lima, Mexico City, London Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, São Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.
It is worth noting that the stock is trading at a forward PE multiple of 8.04, an over 60% discount compared to its sector median.
Additionally, Delta’s (NYSE:DAL) President Glenn Hauenstein has addressed investors regarding improvements in capacity management. He commented that the excess capacity seen during the summer began to resolve itself in August, which positively impacted revenue trends as the airline moved into the fall, typically considered an off-peak season.
During the second quarter, the revenue was 5.4% higher than 2023. It was owed to strong demand and best-in-class operations. Revenue diversification was a key factor, with premium offerings, loyalty programs, and various other revenue sources accounting for 56% of the overall revenue.