Jim Cramer on Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL): ‘They’re A Great Bargain’

We recently compiled a list of the Jim Cramer Talked About These 11 Stocks Recently. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL) stands against the other stocks Jim Cramer talked about recently.

Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, recently shared his thoughts on the surge in cruise stocks, offering a perspective that diverges from the usual focus on the tech sector. According to Cramer, the excitement over DeepSeek’s impact on technology has caused many to overlook simpler, more accessible opportunities. While questions about power plants, data centers, and the future of companies like Nvidia are complex, Cramer finds comfort in identifying opportunities that are easier to grasp. One such opportunity, he pointed out, is with the cruise line operators.

Cramer cited a comment from the CEO of a cruise operator who mentioned that the current macro environment favors experiences over material goods as spending on leisure and travel continues to rise and said:

“Hey, to me it means the cruise lines were cyclical stories before Covid, but now they’ve become genuine secular growth plays and they may stay that way for a generation.”

He emphasized that many investors are still struggling to accept the rapid growth of cruises in such a short time span, despite travel being a massive $2 trillion industry. Cruises, within that context, offer significant value, Cramer noted.

READ ALSO: 7 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar and Jim Cramer’s Game Plan: Top 14 Stocks to Watch

He also highlighted an important factor that has changed the cruise industry since the pandemic: many cruise companies have become far more disciplined in managing their capacity. Unlike before, when too many ships would flood the market, operators are now taking a more cautious approach, which has made the industry more resilient. This shift, according to Cramer, has strengthened the position of cruise lines moving forward. Despite this, he observed that travel and leisure stocks remain undervalued, as many analysts continue to doubt the staying power of the cruise industry.

While Cramer acknowledged that there are still underperforming companies in the market, including a struggling airline stock he pointed out, he firmly stated that he would prefer to own shares in the worst cruise line over the best airline.

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 11 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on January 28. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2024, 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).

Is Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL) the Undervalued Cyclical Stock to Buy Right Now?

A luxurious cruise ship sailing the deep blue sea, sun glistening off its decks.

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 54

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE:CCL) is a leading global provider of leisure travel services, known for its wide range of cruise brands. Cramer mentioned the company and said:

“Plus, the cruise companies like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Carnival have become incredibly disciplined about not adding too much capacity at once, which makes the industry much more resilient than it was before Covid whipped them in shape. They used to have too many ships coming online all the time.”

In December 2024, as part of his game plan, Cramer highlighted Carnival (NYSE:CCL) and said:

“We also get numbers from Carnival. Now Carnival is, this is a cruise line. This has got to be the most bullish industry in the S&P 500 at this moment. Cruises remain the most popular form of travel and leisure activities post-Covid. They’re a great bargain. I think the estimates will be beaten. Right now, you can throw darts at this group and make money. I just booked myself a cruise for next year. Nothing lasts forever, but the love for this group currently knows no bounds.”

Overall CCL ranks 4th on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer talked about recently. While we acknowledge the potential of CCL 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 CCL 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 Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

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