Jim Cramer Considers Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) a ‘Best of Breed’ Stock

We recently compiled a list of the Jim Cramer’s ‘Ignore the Chatter’ Guide: 10 Stocks to Buy Today. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) stands against the other Jim Cramer-approved stocks.

On his Friday show, Jim Cramer discussed the “tyranny of larger macro forces,” lamenting how the market has become overly fixated on broad economic indicators like interest rates and the Fed’s actions instead of keeping their eyes on the prize—great stocks with great stories.

The “short-term guessing game based on the data point of the day” can blindside investors to the long-term glory of what is in front of them, according to Cramer, who also expressed his disdain for ETFs by stating:

“..there could be a pickup in semiconductors if the economy accelerates so we buy an ETF that has semis rather than just going after Nvidia for AI or Texas Instruments for the Internet of Things.”

The backdrop to these comments was the U.S. stock market experiencing a significant rally following the release of encouraging jobless claims data. The S&P 500 jumped by 2.3%, reflecting widespread gains across multiple sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 683 points, highlighting strong performance among blue-chip stocks, while the NASDAQ Composite climbed 2.87%, driven by a rebound in technology and growth stocks.

This rebound helped the S&P 500 recover nearly all losses from earlier in the week, when recession fears and the unwinding of a global yen-funded carry trade led to a sharp decline.

Analyzing Jim Cramer’s recent “Mad Money” episodes, we made a list of 10 stocks that the veteran CNBC host is bullish on. These are companies that are well-poised for long-term growth, given that investors are able to hold their ground and “ignore the chatter.”

The reason we track what hedge funds are doing and their favorite stocks 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).

An array of pharmaceutical pills with the company’s logo on the bottle.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 109

Cramer was nothing short of praises for the exceptional performance of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) stock, which has jumped by more than 50% in the year to date. The success of its GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and obesity was a major contributor to its strong financial results, leading the company to raise its full-year guidance.

The ‘Mad Money’ host considers Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) a “best of breed” stock with strong prospects. BMO Capital rates Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) a “Buy” with a $1,101 price target, citing strong potential in its diabetes and obesity treatment pipeline.

Overall LLY ranks 3rd on our list of the best stocks to buy according to Jim Cramer. While we acknowledge the potential of LLY as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some 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 LLY 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 was originally published at Insider Monkey.