We recently compiled a list of the 9 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) stands against the other stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar.
Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, recently emphasized the importance of long-term investing, urging investors to focus on the growth prospects of certain pharmaceutical stocks while also answering callers’ questions about certain stocks. Cramer acknowledged that stocks often experience cyclical trends, with some sectors falling out of favor temporarily.
“Look, stocks go in and out of style in the Wall Street fashion show. Whole sectors wallow at times. Right now, healthcare’s in some sort of doghouse the likes of which I’ve never seen.”
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Despite the industry’s struggles, Cramer reflected on his observations at the JPMorgan healthcare conference in San Francisco, where he saw many pharmaceutical companies that he believes are not being properly valued by Wall Street. While the present outlook for these companies may not be particularly stellar, he highlighted the strong and lucrative long-term potential they offer.
“Why am I so willing to focus on the so-called out years? Because the long-term possibilities for these companies, frankly, they’re incredible and by the way, incredibly lucrative too, even as the present is good, but not great.”
He pointed to the ongoing progress in the healthcare sector, particularly with GLP-1 drugs, which have the potential to treat more conditions beyond diabetes and weight loss. Additionally, companies are working on developing oral versions of these treatments, which could offer patients more convenient options. Beyond GLP-1 drugs, healthcare companies are expanding their portfolios with new cancer therapies, treatments for eye care and asthma, and experimental drugs for COVID-19.
“The bottom line: Ask yourself what happens if things get better, please. What if the future is brighter than the past? If that’s the case, and I think it is, then you’ll have a lot of winners with these drug and medical device plays.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 9 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the recent episode of Mad Money on January 14. 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 surgeon in a modern operating room holding advanced medical devices with a sense of purpose and accuracy.
Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
Cramer recently highlighted a conversation with the CEO of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT), who expressed confidence in the company’s strong performance.
“Yesterday… we had Geoff Martha on, he’s the CEO of Medtronic, that’s another stock that hasn’t done anything lately. I thought he told a great story about all the new products he’s rolling out, lifesaving products nobody seemed to care about. It was a big yawn. Uh-uh. Today, when the stock was one of the best performers of the S&P 500, up 4%, I remembered what he said yesterday, which is things are pretty darn good. It does make a difference.”
In December 2024, Cramer again discussed the company as he said:
“… the medical device company that’s focused on cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, robotic surgery, and diabetes. Full disclosure, Medtronic’s been a long-term underperformer, up just 12% over the past decade. The stock had a big run during the early portion of the pandemic, reaching new all-time highs, but the gains didn’t last. By the time Medtronic bottomed in late 2023, the stock was actually below where it traded in March of 2020 during the depths of the Covid crash. That’s miserable. But I’m interested in Medtronic here because the company seems to be making a turn, getting back its momentum from the recent spate of weakness in healthcare.”
Cramer also discussed Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) stock performance from late October to December 2024, calling it an exhausting but strong investment opportunity. He highlighted the company’s successful product launches, with 120 approvals in 2024, including advancements in transcatheter aortic valve replacement, pulsed-field ablation, leadless pacemakers, and the Hugo robotic surgery platform.
Cramer noted that these innovations have driven better financial results for Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), including eight consecutive quarters of mid-single-digit organic sales growth. He further added:
“Medtronic’s earnings were basically flat in the last full fiscal year, which ended in April but in the current 2025 fiscal year, the earnings are expected to grow by almost 5%. And if you believe the consensus estimates, that should accelerate to 7% in fiscal 2026 and 8% in fiscal 2027. When Medtronic reported its most recent numbers in mid-November, the stock sold off a bit, but the actual quarter was strong.
Management even raised their full-year organic sales growth forecast and their earnings forecast. So I’d be looking to buy Medtronic in the weakness, but the stock’s selling for just under 14 times next year’s earnings estimates. That’s pretty amazing. It’s one of the cheapest names in the medtech group and hey, Medtronic’s paying you to wait for a comeback. It’s got a bountiful 3.4% dividend yield, very safe, best in the MedTech space by a wide margin.”
Overall MDT ranks 5th on our list of the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar. While we acknowledge the potential of MDT 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 MDT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
