We recently published a list of 9 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) stands against other stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar.
Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, shared his concerns on Thursday, describing the current stock market environment as a “short sellers paradise,” offering an ideal moment for those betting against U.S. stocks. He pointed to an important deadline approaching: April 2nd when major tariffs are set to take effect.
“We have a tariff deadline, beckoning a frightening deadline, actually April 2nd when the big tariffs are going to kick in, that means we’re headed for a moment of maximum fear as regular stock buyers either flee to the sidelines or move the money to Europe.”
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Cramer emphasized that he does not see how the White House could back down from its stance, suggesting that if the administration wants to maintain credibility, it has no choice but to move forward with the tariffs. He explained that for President Trump, showing resolve by sticking to his promises is a signal of strength, even if it means sacrificing the stock market in the process. Cramer believes that this willingness to endure short-term market pain in favor of long-term trade objectives is a clear sign that the White House is committed to its strategy. He went on to say:
“For years, we’ve been conditioned to believe that everyone must do their part to get prices down because we don’t want inflation to get out of control. Unfortunately, someone isn’t doing it.”
The rising costs brought on by tariffs are forcing the Federal Reserve to pay more attention to inflation, complicating the financial space. Cramer remarked that this creates a difficult situation for money managers who now feel compelled to sell due to the economic uncertainty stirred up by Washington. Wall Street, he added, is already adjusting its estimates, factoring in the potential long-term impact of tariffs.
“But what happens in this market after the tariffs are implemented? Maybe another month of wrangling, maybe two months, maybe the whole summer. It could be real bad. So we end up with this build-in negative that could sink 10 ships.”
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 March 13 and March 20. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment 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 man and woman in business attire walking down a street, bags of clothing in hand.
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43
Cramer expressed confidence in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) on March 13, citing its strong performance as seen in its quarterly report, with better-than-expected growth across all regions, improved gross margins, and a 12% increase in same-store sales globally for its direct-to-consumer business. He added:
“Plus it doesn’t hurt that direct-to-consumer with its great gross margins makes up two-thirds of the business. So what was driving the stellar growth? The good news is it’s all about Ralph Lauren’s core products and their classics… Pretty extraordinary. These core products make up more than 70% of the business… Of course, you could argue that none of this matters anymore.
Ralph Lauren’s latest quarter took place in a totally different world, one where we weren’t worried about trade wars and plummeting consumer confidence… certainly true but it’s also why the stock has just fallen 25% over a month’s time. It’s on sale, not the goods, the stock. Don’t forget, on the latest conference call, management noted they currently anticipate a minimal annual impact from tariffs. Although again, that was before things started spiraling out of control. Still, I believe Ralph Lauren’s much more likely to make a comeback than your average retail stock.”
Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) is a renowned designer, marketer, and distributor of lifestyle products such as clothing, home goods, and accessories.
Overall, RL ranks 6th on our list of stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar. While we acknowledge the potential of RL 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 RL 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.
