We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Recently Shed Light on These 9 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed.
Last Wednesday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, questioned whether the market was still following a clear and predictable business cycle, suggesting there were “huge conflicting currents” that made the economy difficult to navigate. Reflecting on his early days in the industry, Cramer explained that back then, understanding the business cycle was important.
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“If business was too strong, the Fed might raise rates, pull things off. If business was too weak, you might have some rate cuts. You always had to pay attention to these things, right, because you didn’t wanna fight the Fed.”
But on that particular day, with the Dow gaining 71 points, the S&P advancing by 0.24% to reach a new all-time record, and the Nasdaq edging up by 0.07%, Cramer began to reconsider whether the traditional concept of the business cycle had become outdated.
Cramer went on to highlight the puzzling movements in specific sectors, especially food and beverage and drug stocks, which showed some unexpected gains. These industries, often seen as immune to economic cycles, seemed to defy the typical patterns.
He pointed out that in light of the current administration’s stance on food policy, especially with a health and human services secretary who has expressed disdain for processed foods and vaccinations, it was not just a cycle affecting these sectors anymore, it felt more like a targeted attack on the industries themselves. Cramer wondered, “What if RFK Jr. wakes up tomorrow and says, ‘I’m banning Fruit Loops’ or stopping weight loss shots?”
“I mean, everyone in this administration seems to think that the federal government could do whatever it wants. That’s not, that’s not how our system works or at least it’s not how the Constitution says it works, but the blight’s very much with us, even with today’s reprieve.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 9 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on February 19. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A team of bankers in suits, discussing the success of the company’s banking products.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was mentioned during the episode and here’s what Mad Money’s host had to say:
“And there’s the banking cycle. Now that’s en fuego, it’s smoking. I mean, it’s crazy. The lack of Democratic regulatory headwind and the slower rate cut cycle, good for them. Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan screaming higher. Doesn’t hurt that the whole industry seems very confident that the Trump regulators will be more bank-friendly than the Biden regulators. Well, no kidding, who wouldn’t be?”
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is a global financial services company that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, and financial products. Oakmark Funds stated the following regarding the company in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was the top contributor during the quarter. The U.S.-headquartered diversified bank’s stock price rose after reporting what we see as solid third-quarter earnings where the company’s efficiency ratio continued to improve as expenses were well controlled. The fee income segment also performed well, growing 12%. In addition, Wells Fargo had the opportunity to repurchase $3.5 billion in shares during the period, bringing the full-year repurchase to roughly $16 billion. In November, the stock price continued its upward trend following the U.S. presidential election as investors are optimistic that the financials sector will benefit from looser regulations and lower corporate taxes, thus stimulating a better environment for dealmaking. We continue to believe that Wells Fargo is a competitively advantaged bank that can use its superior business mix and return potential to unlock further value.”
Overall, WFC ranks 2nd on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of WFC 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WFC 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.
