Jim Cramer on Accenture (ACN): “Their Business Is Slowing But. . .”

We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Discusses These 10 Stocks & Says “Traders Are Dumb As Wood.” In this article, we are going to take a look at where Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discussed.

In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer commented on the response by markets to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments that the inflationary effects of tariffs could be transitory. Higher inflation from tariffs had led investors to worry that the Fed might raise interest rates. However, Powell’s language assuaged these customers. Commenting on Powell and the markets, Cramer commented:

“People at home have to recognize David that there are two markets. There’s the very considered market, that was in keeping with the considered Fed reserve chief, and that’s what we have after two o’ clock. And then there’s the wild night time market where you come in and everything has just been divorced from what you heard the day before. It must be very confusing for people to say, oh my, what happened, seems like there’s a wholesale reconfiguration, a reset so to speak. But it’s all nonsense. What you see on the screen is worthless. No longer do these futures have any sort of correlation with what happened even last night. Now some of that could be because we have a new President. Some of it could just be that there’s lunacy and people who are not manipulating but making ill-advised trades long before the market opens. You’re seeing the 24 hour market, David. The problem is, in keeping with the fact that I’m at [a home improvement retailer], the traders are dumb as wood.”

Another investor concern and one that’s gone unnoticed amidst the debate surrounding tariffs and last week’s massive selloff is weakening customer sentiment. Cramer also commented on these worries and bank CEO Jamie Dimon’s thoughts on the matter:

“I think March is weak, I think the consumer is spending less. I agree with Jamie Dimon. . .Look I think that there’s genuine weakness in the endless talk about tariffs is soon going to make it so that it’s too boring to listen to us. Everyone is concerned about tariffs. People are asking about whether it’s reciprocal or protective. I mean, once again I hear, is it Hamilton or McKinley? I mean let’s stop it. No one even knows those guys anymore. What bill is McKinley on? But I will say that it is worrisome to people, so therefore they sell, soon as they hear tariffs, they get nervous.”

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 March 20th.

For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 79

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is one of the largest consulting companies in the world. The firm’s shares dipped by 7% in March after it revealed that cost-cutting efforts in the US government could mean that its revenue could drop. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)’s shares have lost 20% over the past year and 13% year-to-date as the firm has navigated other headwinds such as its financial services customers pulling back spending in 2024. Here are Cramer’s latest remarks about Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN):

“[On ACN pointing out that lower government spending will hurt sales] Everyone was fearful of this! Everyone was! But the analysts just endlessly told you not to worry. Don’t worry. Not to worry. Well they were wrong. They said that we’d be safe in Accenture. They were wrong.”

“Look, this was the big worry. All the, all the consultants were worried because I think that you know what Musk thinks? I think he thinks that they are not worth as much as they think they are.”

“Their business is slowing but I do think that it’s just one vertical. And I’m gonna try to be like the analysts and find something good to say because that’s all they ever do with Accenture. They love Accenture, so this must be really, right in the wheelhouse of all these analysts. I called them sycophants, or I haven’t called them sycophants yet. Who love this company. They love it. And I do think that Julia Sweet’s smart. She’s smart.”

Overall, ACN ranks 4th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of ACN 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 ACN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.