Jim Cramer Says Cencora, Inc. (COR) CEO Steve Collis Is ‘Really, Really Smart’

We recently compiled a list of the Jim Cramer Shed Light on These 9 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) stands against the other stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about.

Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, has been considering the uncertainty surrounding 2025 and the ongoing macroeconomic challenges that are sparking important questions. One of the main points Cramer has been grappling with is the direction Washington will take in the coming months. He highlighted that, despite two months of processing the election results, there’s still a lack of clarity about what the priorities will be and what Congress might actually pass. Cramer also brought up several important questions about President Donald Trump’s stance on various issues.

“Is president-elect Trump serious about large widespread tariffs or is the tough talk just a negotiating tactic? How serious is Trump about mass deportations? Which, if enacted, would likely have an impact on… the labor market.”

READ ALSO Jim Cramer Discussed These 12 Stocks Amidst The DeepSeek AI Selloff and Jim Cramer Talked About These 11 Stocks Recently

Another major question Cramer raised was about deregulation, how much benefit will companies truly see from it, and how quickly? In terms of corporate taxes, Cramer also noted that the extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act seems likely, but he questioned whether Trump might push even further, potentially altering the tax landscape in a more significant way. Perhaps one of the most pressing questions Cramer raised concerned the bond market and its tolerance for large U.S. government budget deficits.

“And considering that last question, here’s a doozy: Will the bond market continue to tolerate big budget deficits from the US government?”

He pointed out that some argue the bond market has already begun to take a more stringent stance on national debt, evident in the rising treasury yields over recent months. Still, Cramer left it at that, suggesting the situation remains uncertain.

“Difficult to answer because as we learned last time, I mean, Donald Trump is not a predictable president, great for cable news ratings, but sometimes frustrating when you’re in the business of making predictions. Hmm, maybe a higher cash position than normal could beckon.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 9 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episodes of Mad Money aired on January 7 and 8. 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 scientist in the lab, researching the development of biopharmaceutical monoclonal antibody drugs.

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

Cramer praised Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) but noted that there is a possibility that the stock might go lower.

“Cencora, Conshohocken… Used to be the old ABC, AmerisourceBergen. I have to tell you, I think that Steve Collis is really, really smart. I met him last year at the JPMorgan Healthcare… their conference. I gotta tell you, I think the stock can go lower because a lot of people don’t like… They don’t like McKesson. I prefer Cardinal to this one, but I did like the acquisition.”

Cencora (NYSE:COR) distributes pharmaceutical products and healthcare services globally, serving various healthcare providers with services such as pharmacy management, clinical trial support, and specialty logistics. Cramer’s preferred stock of Cardinal Health gained over 148% over the past 5 years while COR stock went up more than 200% during the same period.

TimesSquare Capital Management stated the following regarding Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Our preferences among Health Care stocks are those companies providing novel therapies for unmet needs that deserve premium pricing, or specialized service providers. Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR), a pharmaceutical products distributor, had a flat return due to uneven fiscal third quarter results. US health care revenues grew for the quarter, however, international fell short. Gross margins deteriorated due to a higher mix of GLP-1s.”

Overall COR ranks 5th on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about. While we acknowledge the potential of COR 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 COR 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 was originally published at Insider Monkey.