Jim Cramer Calls Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (SFM) A ‘Cramer Fave’

We recently published an article titled Jim Cramer Thinks These 13 Stocks Will Benefit From the New Administration. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) stands against the stocks that will benefit from the new administration according to Jim Cramer.

Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, recently raised concerns about the current state of the market, particularly highlighting what he perceives as signs of “excess”. He also examined what he referred to as “Trump trades,” or stocks that Wall Street has been gravitating towards in anticipation of what President-elect Donald Trump’s administration might bring.

He pointed to private prison operators and oil service companies as examples of sectors benefiting from these expectations. Focusing on oil, Cramer noted that a number of smaller oil service stocks have surged this month. He pointed out:

“Now one of the few things that we know for certain about President-elect Trump’s economic agenda is that he wants our country to produce even more oil than it’s doing. His new pick for treasury secretary, that’s Scott Bessent, has advocated for the country to produce an incremental 3 million barrels of oil per day.”

READ ALSO Jim Cramer’s List of 7 Energy Stocks for the Trump Trade and Jim Cramer’s Game Plan: 13 Stocks in Focus 

Cramer sees this as positive news for oil service companies involved in the extraction of resources. However, he also warned that this surge in production could exert downward pressure on oil and gas prices, much like what occurred in 2016. Despite this, Cramer highlighted that the major players in oil services have posted impressive gains in November, with some smaller operators making unexpected appearances on the list of the market’s hottest stocks. Shifting to the cryptocurrency market, Cramer addressed the significant rise in Bitcoin’s value. He noted:

“Now that rally is taking up practically the whole cryptocurrency ecosystem… Obviously, the gains in crypto, especially the Bitcoin ecosystem, seem excessive, but again, they aren’t without reason. We’re going from a Biden regime that was pretty antagonistic towards crypto to a second Trump administration that promised to be incredibly crypto-friendly.”

Cramer also pointed out that under the Biden administration, the government had been more paternalistic, aiming to regulate and control crypto, while Trump has promised a much more supportive stance towards Bitcoin. Cramer believes that a Trump administration that actively supports Bitcoin could lead to significant hoarding of the cryptocurrency, especially in the context of a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

This could benefit Bitcoin holders or “hodlers,” as they are often called in the crypto community. He also suggested that owning Bitcoin or an ETF that tracks its performance could serve as a hedge against potential inflation, particularly if the government continues to print money to address its deficit. Cramer voiced his own support for Bitcoin, saying, “call me in favor of owning Bitcoin,” and also recommended purchasing Ethereum, which he owns, despite it lagging behind Bitcoin in recent performance.

“I’m a believer, but these are hedges for me, and if you’re hoarding crypto, be ready for the breakdown no one thinks can come.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 13 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during a recent episode of Mad Money on November 25. 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 bright, colorful display of fresh produce in a grocery store.

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 37

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) is a Cramer favorite and he noted that the company is a “high-quality operator”.

“Cramer fave, Sprouts Farmers Market has only run up 15% month to date and it’s part of the same theme. Then again, Sprouts was already doing great on its own before the election because it’s a really high-quality operator that I like very much.”

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) operates in the U.S., retailing fresh, natural, and organic food products, offering a wide range of perishable and non-perishable items under the Sprouts brand. In the third quarter, the company reported a significant 8.4% increase in same-store sales, contributing to a 14% year-over-year rise in overall revenue, which reached $1.95 billion, surpassing estimates.

This growth was partly driven by the company’s ongoing efforts to expand its store footprint, with nine new locations opened during the quarter. The company focuses on smaller, more efficient store formats, which it believes will improve profitability while maintaining a strong market presence. The company continued to innovate within its product lines, keeping consumer interest high and further emphasizing the Sprouts Brand.

By ensuring that most stores are within 250 miles of a distribution center, the company aims to streamline operations and reduce costs. As a result of these efforts, Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) achieved significant financial gains. Gross margins expanded, and operating income surged by 40%, reaching $122.5 million. Additionally, EPS grew from $0.64 to $0.91, comfortably exceeding the forecast. With a total of 428 locations across 23 states, the company continues its growth trajectory, strengthening its position in the retail food market.

Overall SFM ranks 4th on Jim Cramer’s list of stocks that will benefit from the new administration. While we acknowledge the potential of SFM 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than SFM 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.