In this piece, we will look at the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.
In a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer discussed China’s retaliatory actions against President Trump’s tariffs. The program was aired on the day China retaliated, and Cramer commented on Chinese actions against coal gas and others and export control on critical minerals. Starting from coal, he shared “Coal, very much in demand in Western Europe. Liquefied natural gas, demand everywhere. Minerals, okay they’ve already had pretty tight controls.”
Since the natural resources targeted by China were already in demand in other regions, he outlined: “So I look at this and I say, alright, what they’re saying is. We don’t wanna go to war. So what we’re gonna do is demonstrate that we’re going after some things. That we know they are not important to you. We know it doesn’t hurt any aspect but we can’t lose face here. We gotta do something.”
Cramer believes that the restrictions against “Liquefied natural gas [are] the funniest one. Because the demand for liquefied natural gas is insane.” As a result, he believes that the Chinese reaction was “a statement which basically says Mr. President, we heard you, maybe we ought to sit down and talk. Now there are some people would say appeasers, I don’t want to use that strong term. There are people within the government who very much want a deal. I think the President very much wants a deal. They can raise the ten to twenty five.”
The CNBC host also believes that the Chinese actions suggested that they were trying to find common ground with the President. He believes “what they’re saying, I think is, you know what. Common ground here. We’re gonna hit you on some things that aren’t gonna hurt you. Let’s talk. And that’s what this is.” On the other hand, the actions against Canada were “very central to their country,” he outlined.
“China is basically saying, look, come on, let’s do some talking,” Cramer added. He believes that it would be important to hear next “is China going to do anything that lessens its friendship with Russia?” When asked why China would do that, Cramer replied “Well because I think that the President perceives . . . .the Russians [are] losers now. And the President does not like losers. I think he’d like to separate China.”
He also shared details about a potential difference in opinion in the White House over the Trump administration’s approach against China. According to Cramer:
“I think China, I just continue to believe that there are two camps. There’s the Navarro camp, his excellent book which talks about what China is about, which is we are at war. . . . And then there’s the China we want a deal [with]. And we don’t know where the President is. We just don’t know. We don’t know where he is. He’s got conflicting voices in the White House saying look we, some saying we’re at war, and some saying let’s deal.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on February 4th.
For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? 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).
10. PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 27
PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) is one of the biggest apparel companies in America. It owns well-known clothing brands, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH)’s shares are down by 40% over the past year as the firm is yet to recover from a selloff in April 2024. Back then, the firm cut its 2024 revenue guidance by 6% to 7% and Q1 guidance by 11%. The stock tumbled by 22% as a result. PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH)’s shares also dropped by 1% in January after China targeted the firm in retaliation to President Trump’s tariffs. Cramer dismissed the Chinese move:
“I thought these were funny. PVH what are they, buttons on the shirt [inaudible]?. But David, PVH, um, Tommy Hilfiger, the sweaters. Is it about the sweaters? Is that what it’s come down to?”
“Could be whimsical, could be actual, but PVH for many years was the master licensee for . . .men’s apparel. Exclusive relationship with Macy’s, great relationship and very nice business. And perhaps, I know that the relationship ended in 2015 when Trump ran for President the first time. PVH has no other business relationship with the President since then. But that would be, kind of uh, nice way to say hey listen . . we’ll even, we’re gonna slap you on the tie. But, so just keep that in mind.”
9. Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 35
Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) is an industrial equipment company that manufactures engines, powertrains, and other equipment. Despite a slowdown in the industrial sector due to sluggish activity and high rates, its shares have held their ground and are up by 40% over the year. Part of the strong performance is due to a 9% jump after the November election. Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) has also benefited from investor euphoria surrounding data centers as the firm makes and sells backup power generators for data centers. Cramer’s comments covered this aspect of the firm’s operations:
“I was quite impressed with Cummins. Cummins does a lot of engines for data centers. Really, really good quarter. And they make perfect engines. They’re like one of great companies, ever.”
8. Ferrari N.V. (NYSE:RACE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 36
Ferrari N.V. (NYSE:RACE) is one of the most iconic sports car manufacturers in the world. Its shares are up by 24% over the past year as a high-profile and inflation-resistant clientele has enabled Ferrari N.V. (NYSE:RACE) to raise its revenue forecasts even as the broader automotive industry struggles with demand. The shares are up by 15.2% year-to-date as the firm guided €2.45 billion in 2025 operating income to mark a 7.5% annual growth and generated €1 billion in profit for the first time. Here is what Cramer said about Ferrari N.V. (NYSE:RACE):
“Look I think that they’re, a lot of people feel there is no tier, that people, everything’s been affected, everybody. . . here’s a company where there is not a lot of resistance to price. So they don’t have to cut price. By the way a lot of consumer products companies, the reason why their stocks are down is they have held price. And the American public, they are done with that. You lower your price or you’re out.”
“And this, Ferrari’s one of the few companies they did not have to cut their price. Amazing.”
7. BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 37
BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) is one of the biggest asset managers in the world. Dropping interest rates in 2024 coupled with higher stock market activity has proven to be a boon for the firm. BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)’s assets under management sat at $11.6 trillion in Q4 and marked the fourth consecutive time to touch a record high. In his previous remarks, Cramer shared mixed thoughts about the firm’s investments in infrastructure. This time around, he commented on BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)’s position in the broader asset management industry:
“We bought some Blackrock yesterday.”
“And it’s also Vanguard cut rates. And, if, [sic]Blackstone had not made this change, people would sell. I mean we bought it because we felt that there’s not a lot of overlap anymore because of the things that Larry Fink has done. So, things being creative, that allowed. . . Blackrock is I thought they gave it away, yes it was down sixty points. And what they’re doing is very positive. And they’re not being hostage to what Vanguard’s doing. And you’re absolutely right, they’re becoming more and more of a bank and I think that, that stock is way undervalued versus everybody else, frankly.”
“You can get seven, eight percent. I asked Larry to be able to make it so that individuals could be in it. The company here to be able to say can I be in that fixed income product because there’s just so much money to be made there. And Larry’s doing a very good thing for people that want to invest. But right now it’s institutions.”
6. The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 41
The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) is a consumer products firm that makes and sells disinfectants, laundry care products, personal care items, and associated goods. Its shares are down by 3.4% over the past year and would have been up by 3.9% had it not been for a 7% drop in February. The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)’s shares dipped after the firm warned about inflationary and tariff-related risks to its bottom line. The stock fell despite the fact that the firm increased its 2025 EPS forecast to $6.95 to $7.35 from an earlier $6.65 to $6.90. Cramer skillfully dissected The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)’s earnings report:
“Look at Clorox, okay. I mean Clorox is a good company, right. But, you get in an every single, every single line is down! I mean it’s really incredible, how the stock, the company, you know, look, the gross margins were good, health and wellness down 13%. Household’s down 11%. Lifestyle down 16%. International down 12%. They break up their partnership with Procter & Gamble over Glad bags, that’s just bad. It’s a bad quarter. And you know don’t want to sugar coat it, I mean, there are companies that are just doing, that are underperforming rather radically.”
“[on guidance increase through shifting 2026 business into current year] You gotta be really careful with some of these cause you think that you’re good. And it turns out that what they’re doing is, they’re not disguising. They’re just doing things that are making it so that their numbers look little better than expected. And they’re not.”
5. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 41
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) is an industrial and farming equipment company that manufactures heavy equipment for the agriculture and forestry industries. Its shares are up by 21% over the past year due to a strong fiscal fourth-quarter report in November that sent the shares surging by 14% over the next couple of days. The report reversed some of the bearish sentiment surrounding Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s business as its $4.55 EPS beat analyst estimates of $3.87. Cramer commented on the firm’s product prices:
“By the way farm equipment. . . the tariff on Deere is way too high. Because I tried to buy Deere. It’s like ridiculous how expensive it is in Europe.”
4. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 43
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is one of the most commonly discussed stocks on Cramer’s morning show. It is also one of Cramer’s favorites, and not a day goes by when the CNBC host doesn’t praise the firm’s management and CEO Alex Karp. Cramer has gone as far as to say that he now likes to refer to Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)’s stock ticker as KARP instead of PLTR. His remarks during this show came after the firm’s earnings report sent its stock soaring by a whopping 24%:
“This is a company that’s measured by the Rule of 40. And it came at Rule of 81. Which shows you that the revenue growth and the gross margins are extraordinary. I think that the call itself talked a lot about what the key to Palantir’s growth is, which is ontology. Meaning, it’s a core concept within its platform, designed to bridge the gap between raw data and actionable insights. What they do is they do an amazing deep dive on everybody that they have and they come back with what they should do. And the, artificial intelligence here is the king. But what they’ve really done is kind of just said look, we can make anybody much better. And the resistance is that you maybe stupid. You may not understand. It’s a very caustic, well, look, Karp is caustic. Shyam Sankar is actually very, he does a lot of defense work, he’s brilliant. He’s done a lot of good stuff. There’s a lot of really important people on the calls talking about what they’re doing say with the Special Operations Command, what they’re doing with military, which I wish they would tell you more. But what’s incredible is you bring them in and they claim that you pretty much, because of the way that they’re set up, can do a dramatic overhaul of your company. Or a dramatic overhaul of the government. They’re working with DOGE. And I think that this is a central and existential attack, ultimately, not mentioned on the call, on the companies that run our Defense Department. Now I’m talking about here Lockheed, I’m talking Northrop Grumman. I would not want to be those companies after we, they should read this conference call because this company’s coming for them. Coming for them.”
“[On Morgan Stanley’s note] Yeah I mean I think that, again when they talk about ontology, I mean you do have to read this with a, I read it with you dot com then I read it with ChatGPT. Now they think the chat obviously, they’re well beyond chat. I get that. . . .I’m just in awe of these guys, and I was trying to reference them . . .when I went through the call and I read it several times, and I used to be upset when Alex Karp cursed. I don’t even care anymore. That was wrong, you know I just cared because, he didn’t need to. I really like him and I really love this company. And by the way, the defense guy is just extraordinary and they’re going to, they’re going to change the government. And they’re working hand in glove with DOGE. Working hand in glove.”
“I said at fifty it was going to go to a hundred. . . .I am in awe. I’m not in contact with Karp. I do just think that Shyam Sankar is, really talking about the way the Defense Department has to be re-done. What I think that, that Musk is talking about saving a lot of money, what he’s really talking about is you bring an outfit like Palantir in and they distill what’s important, again, ontology, and then they go to town. And if you let them have their way, we would say, hundreds of billions of dollars.”
“Oh my I would not want to be a Defense Department contractor. Not at all. These guys are too powerful. . . .These guys, you give them the key, they are, they’re the most patriotic. I know it’s like you could say it’s way overdone. I don’t think so. I am in awe of these guys. I mean I remember there would be a period in my life where I wanted to work at Bain, I wanted to work with a consultant, with McKinsey, and I said I want to go to Goldman. I would now, and he wouldn’t take me. Alex would say, Jim you’re not smart enough. And that’s okay. That’s okay. That’s how good Palantir is.”
3. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 48
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is one of the biggest defense contractors in America. The firm makes a wide variety of weapons systems and products such as aircraft, IT systems, and spaceships. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)’s shares are up by a modest 4.8% over the past year as while the firm has benefited from some profit raises due to ongoing global conflicts, investors have also been wary of spending cuts spearheaded by Elon Musk and DOGE under the Trump administration. Cramer’s conflicts tied the cuts to Palantir:
“And I think that this is a central and existential attack, ultimately, not mentioned on the call, on the companies that run our Defense Department. Now I’m talking about . . . I’m talking Northrop Grumman. I would not want to be those companies after we, they should read this conference call [PALANTIR Q4 EARNINGS] because this company’s coming for them. Coming for them.”
2. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 49
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) is a beauty products company that has failed to impress investors amidst a global economic slowdown that has hit Europe and China particularly hard. Its shares have lost 52.8% over the past year, with China in particular hampering the stock’s performance. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) earns more than 30% of its revenue through Asia, and Cramer commented on the firm’s misplaced business decisions that have led to the troubled stock price:
“I would say that they made their bet with China, and they made their bet with duty free. And they’re terrible, terrible bets. I’m gonna have ELF on tomorrow, they import a lot of China. . .I come back and I just say, this company is so challenged. And by the way, let’s just understand, they never cut prices. Their price is way too high. And if you stack up ELF versus those, I know people want to hear at Estee Lauder, no one knows the . . .difference. So they never cut price, they never understood what’s happening overseas. And they got it completely wrong, you couldn’t, that stock wasn’t, if you take a longer term view of where that stock was, this was a blue chip. And I made a lot of money in it and then I lost a lot money in it. This is my charitable trust. But wow, you couldn’t be more wrong. . . .Horrendous. I mean what’s incredible is that historically they’ve done a good number and then they’ve done a guide that’s weak. And that allowed them to beat it. Now they did a really bad number. They gave a guide that’s weak. I wouldn’t touch this thing with a ten foot pole.”
1. Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 54
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) is a sizable healthcare company that caters to the needs of the genetic testing and genomic industries. Its products target a nascent industry that typically thrives when rates are low as firms and institutions can fork out large expenditures for research and other purposes. As a result, Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)’s shares are down by 25.4% over the past year. During the day Cramer’s comments were aired, China had announced restrictions against the firm. Since then, the stock is down by 18%, but Cramer dismissed any major impacts that Chinese restrictions on Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) might have on the US industry:
“Illumina, there’s two other companies that do what they do.”
ILMN is a stock Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of ILMN 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ILMN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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