We recently published a list of Jim Cramer’s Latest Calls: 10 Stocks You Should Not Miss. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Mastercard (NYSE:MA) stands against other Jim Cramer’s latest stock picks you shouldn’t miss.
Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC talked about earnings results from some of the top consumer and retail companies and said, as a compliment, that America has become a nation of “cheapskates” where consumers are unwilling to pay more when there’s little or no value.
“There’s something happening here, and what it is is exactly clear: we’ve become a nation of cheapskates. I say that as a compliment. Nobody gets away with charging too much anymore—not in this country, no matter the industry, perhaps even the drug industry. It’s happening now, it’s happening fast, and many companies are being left behind by the change. I see it everywhere I go—in the grocery store, online, in the mall, and, of course, in the stock market.”
Cramer talked about how restaurants that offer cheaper but quality meals are seeing a surge in their stock prices amid rising revenues. He also discussed how weight-loss drugs are impacting companies that sell alcohol products.
“American people are tired of paying up. They feel gou, they feel betrayed, they feel that the only thing about brand loyalty is that it isn’t worth a dime. They want a better deal. They’ll eagerly switch lifetime habits in order to save some money because prices are up so much that you feel like an idiot if you’re paying up.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s Latest Lightning Round: 11 Stocks to Watch and Jim Cramer on AMD and Other Stocks
For this article we watched latest programs of Jim Cramer aired on CNBC and picked 10 stocks he’s talking about. With each company we have 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A woman using a payment terminal at the checkout of a store showing payment products and solutions.
Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 142
Talking about Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) in a recent program on CNBC, Jim Cramer praised the company’s management and said the company is “incredible.”
“The momentum in this company is incredible. They have an amazing, amazing runway to go forward. They are accepting digital. They are doing what I regard as being the greatest fintech in the world, which is that there is no risk to money. And they are, I think, the most competitive franchise in terms of the stuff that you never see.”
Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) recently posted better-than-expected Q3 results. But the stock slipped on guidance. Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) now projects a net revenue compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in the high end of the low double-digits for 2025 to 2027, a decrease from its previous performance target of a high-teens percentage range for the 2022-2024 period. It also forecasts EPS CAGR in the mid-teens, down from the low 20s previously expected at the last investor day.
However, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) did raise its annual operating margin target to at least 55%, up from the 50% minimum set in 2021.
It’s important to note that the 2021 targets were based on expectations for a strong rebound following the 2020 COVID recession.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) stated it plans to invest for the long term while achieving positive operating leverage.
Ithaka US Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is one of two leading companies (along with Visa, which we also own) that helps match information and funds between banks that have relationships with card-carrying consumers and banks that have relationships with merchants, thus ensuring payment transactions are reliable and secure. Since the company’s founding in 1966, Mastercard has benefi ted from the growth in personal consumption expenditure, the strong secular shift from cash and checks to credit and debit cards, and a highly profi table business model that generates high incremental operating margins and hence ample and growing free cash fl ow per share. During the third quarter Mastercard’s stock outperformed as an in-line earnings announcement and strong global credit growth helped pull the stock out of a six-month consolidation.”
Overall, MA ranks 4th on our list of Jim Cramer’s latest stock picks you shouldn’t miss. While we acknowledge the potential of MA, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar 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 MA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.