We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Looked At These 7 Stocks Recently. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer recently looked at.
Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, recently shared his perspective on a few oil service stocks and the impact of President Donald Trump’s pro-drilling agenda. While Trump has rolled out extensive plans aimed at boosting the oil and gas industry, Cramer said that oil service stocks might not see immediate gains as a result.
“The whole oil and gas industry loves a ‘drill, baby, drill’ White House, but doesn’t automatically take up the oil service stocks, or the producers for that matter. After listening to what SLB and HAL had to say over the past week, considering the macro environment and the new geopolitical factors, I think their stocks can work over time, just perhaps not necessarily right now.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Recently Shed Light on These 9 Stocks and 8 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar
Cramer further elaborated that President Trump’s public statements often feel like a non-stop “lightning round” of buys and sells. Wall Street, he said, enjoys the energy and excitement that comes with Trump’s rapid-fire ideas, even if they don’t always lead to actionable investment opportunities.
“If you’re a trader, Trump’s a dream come true. He generates a huge number of catalysts every time he talks. I don’t think most people should trade too hard unless you do it professionally, but this is heaven on earth for them.”
Cramer also pointed to historical examples, specifically drawing a comparison to President Ronald Reagan’s time in office. He recalled that Reagan’s vision of a 600-ship Navy led to significant profits for defense contractors. However, Cramer noted an important difference between Reagan’s and Trump’s approach: while Reagan’s statements were more measured, Trump’s style is fast-paced and unpredictable. Cramer sees this rapid-fire communication as both a challenge and an opportunity for market participants.
“I think we have to expect that President Trump will say something every day that gets a ton of coverage… We need to monitor these statements, but, look, we can’t expect all of them to generate actionable investing ideas, even if they do produce bullish animal spirits that boost the market.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 7 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the recent episode of Mad Money on January 23. 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 drilling rig in the desert with an orange sunset in the background.
Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38
Talking about Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), Cramer said:
“So what about Halliburton, which reported yesterday morning? Alright, well, Hal’s stock is simply beaten down having fallen almost 25% last year. It didn’t get an SLB-style bounce yesterday. In fact, it lost another 3.6% and then today it got hit for another 1.8%. Why? Well, Halliburton had mixed headline numbers. Revenue was down 2% year-over-year, slightly lower than expected. Well, the earnings only beat estimates by a penny.
Halliburton is much more levered to North America than SLB and right now, that’s hurting them as North American revenue fell 7%. Even the international business was up 3%. But North America’s where the action is for these guys. Looking forward, Halliburton says it expects flat international revenues in 2025 with Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller saying, ‘growth in most international markets offset by activity reduction in Mexico.”
Cramer pointed out that Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) is seeing positive global prospects, except in Mexico. While North America has a promising long-term outlook, the company expects a decline of low to mid-single digits in 2025. Cramer emphasized that pricing pressures in the U.S. are making the situation worse, though Miller remains optimistic about the company’s future. Cramer remarked:
“Miller knows that after conceding and giving those price breaks I just mentioned, Halliburton’s now sold out with all of its fleets working under committed or contracted programs. Good. He also mentioned some new technologies including Zeus, the company’s new electric fracturing pumping unit. That’s a fracking tool. And this is the part that I like best, Miller explained, ‘I believe the next catalyzing inflection from North America services will be up, not down.
I believe the most pressing energy problem in North America today is the power shortage driven by the electrification and power demand for AI and this cannot be solved without significant amounts of natural gas.’ I totally agree with him. He goes on to say, this is on top of the expected increases in LNG exports. These are all very good things for Halliburton in 2025. Same story as SLB. I think it’s compelling even if it will take time to play out.”
Cramer noted that while oil service stocks like SLB and Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) may remain under pressure this year, they are currently trading at very low valuations, with SLB priced at 12 times earnings and a 2.7% yield, and Halliburton at 10 times earnings with a 2.4% yield. Though it’s hard to predict when these stocks will bottom out, Cramer suggested starting a small position now and adding more gradually, treating them as deep value plays that require patience.
Overall, HAL ranks 5th on our list of stocks that stocks that Jim Cramer recently looked at. While we acknowledge the potential of HAL 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 HAL 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.
