We recently published a list of Jim Cramer’s Thoughts on These 7 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer has shared his thoughts on.
Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, recently revisited one of his core investment principles: “Nobody ever made a dime panicking.” He emphasized that, no matter how many times he has shared this advice, it always feels as crucial as the first time. Observing the current turmoil in tech stocks, Cramer pointed out that panic selling leads to missing out on the recovery that often follows. Specifically, he noted how those who sold their tech holdings this week missed the subsequent surge in tech stocks that delivered strong returns.
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Looked At These 7 Stocks Recently and 7 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar
Cramer explained that the panic was so widespread that it even affected the stocks of companies that were benefiting from the tech boom. He observed that even when good news was on the horizon, fear caused investors to make rushed decisions. He then discussed how a Chinese company recently announced a new innovation suggesting that fewer NVDA chips are needed for artificial intelligence applications.
“The companies that are doing well might even do better if DeepSeek’s formula for success spreads, bunch of knuckleheads.”
While Cramer acknowledged that this new technology, such as DeepSeek’s offering, posed a potential threat to NVDA, he quickly said, “The way I see it, that’s nonsense.” However, Cramer was particularly critical of how the market reacted to this news. He pointed out that the panic was so intense that even companies benefiting from the tech sector’s growth were dragged down.
“Here’s the bottom line: The shoot first ask-questions-later approach works when there’s fraud or chicanery and we know we must sell but when things are complicated or murky, it might not make sense to help create the biggest single-day dollar loss in history, chums. There’s a better way. Just don’t do anything. If you really wanna sell, you can do it into the rebound the next day. In my experience, after one more dip in the morning, you almost always get a better price.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 7 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episodes of Mad Money aired on January 28 and 30. 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).
A technician in a mechanic’s uniform replacing an A/C compressor, signifying the company’s automotive replacement parts business.
AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
Cramer expressed appreciation for AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) as he said:
“Okay, now listen to me. Listen to me good, AZO is a great stock and you always hear people say, well, wait a second, they buy a lot of parts, AutoZone, from China so therefore it’s no good. Forget that. AutoZone is good. They buy a lot of their own stock.”
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) sells and distributes a variety of automotive replacement parts and accessories, including hard parts, maintenance products, and non-automotive items. While Cramer had nothing but good things to say about the company recently, in December 2024, he said:
“Here we have a company that imports aftermarket auto parts, including some from China, and any company that imports anything from China is viewed with tremendous skepticism right now, right here. AutoZone, though, has a gigantic buyback that kicks in on any weakness, so can it sidestep tariff worries? I can tell you from the disappointing portion of my Charitable Trust that you simply can’t own stocks with China exposure here. That’s been the case ever since the election. I don’t think anything has changed, so I don’t know. I used to love it, I can’t load the boat up here.”
Overall, AZO ranks 4th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer has shared his thoughts on. While we acknowledge the potential of AZO 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 time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AZO 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.