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 Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) 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Nasdaq edging up by 0.07%, Cramer began to reconsider whether the traditional concept of the business cycle had become outdated.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).
An intermodal container train winding through a rural landscape.
Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 93
Commenting on Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) during the episode, Cramer said:
“Union Pacific didn’t seem all that exciting either. Coal’s weak, chemicals’ horrible, those are the ones that go into plastic.”
Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) provides transportation services for a broad range of products, including agricultural goods, chemicals, metals, petroleum, and automobiles, serving various industries such as agriculture, construction, and manufacturing. As we mentioned in our article, Jim Cramer Discusses These 13 Stocks & Rejects The AI PC Super Cycle, Cramer commented on the company and said:
“Yes, let’s talk about the railroad. I mean it’s a gigantic railroad. Reported excellent numbers. Jim Vena is now running it. . . The operating ratio which of course you want to go lower was superb. And David I’ve got to tell you, they’ve got strong core pricing gains for industrials which I think is where you’re gonna do very well. Premium strength to, in international West Coast imports. This is really good and they, intermodal growth. I’ve got to tell you, this just may be one of the great reports. Now I’m gonna go a step too far. Alright. But the President is an old energy guy. West Virginia, Wyoming, Pennsylvania. The three biggest coal producers, Wyoming at the top, okay. Coal. I think coal’s gonna come back in fashion…
[When asked why?] Well those three states went for Trump. . .natural gas is, I think is going to five. And at that point they switch. Because there’s really coal all over the country and we’re going to export a lot. . . And by the way, coal was thirty percent of how we heated things in ten years ago and now it’s down to fifteen percent.”
Overall, UNP ranks 6th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of UNP 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 UNP 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.
