Jim Cramer Still Calls Schlumberger Limited (SLB) ‘The Best of Breed’ Even Though The Stock Has Not Gone Up As Much As He Expected

We recently compiled a list of the Jim Cramer is Talking About These 14 Stocks Before Earnings. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) stands against the other stocks Jim Cramer is talking about before earnings.

As earnings season kicks off, Jim Cramer of Mad Money offered insights on what investors should watch in the coming week on Wall Street. He highlighted the anticipated reports from several major banks, along with a few other companies, as key events to monitor.

Cramer expressed optimism about the current market conditions, noting that the situation aligns with his previous predictions that the market would thrive once the Federal Reserve began reducing interest rates while the economy remained strong. He remarked on the spectacular earnings reported by some major banks on Friday, emphasizing that this positive news is particularly impactful now, as opposed to previous instances when the Fed was tightening, causing good news to go largely unnoticed. Cramer believes that with the Fed now supportive of the market, there is potential for more favorable times ahead.

Looking to Monday, Cramer predicted that the focus will shift away from earnings reports due to other significant developments over the weekend. He mentioned the anticipated unveiling of a Chinese stimulus package and noted that although the rally in China has stalled, it could regain momentum if the Chinese government injects substantial funds into real estate and the stock market.

“Now, on Monday, we won’t be focused on earnings. There’s a lot of other stuff happening over the weekend. For instance, I think we’ll be parsing the Chinese stimulus package that’s going to be unveiled. The China rally is stalled, but it can get rolling again if the Chinese Communist Party keeps throwing tens of billions of dollars for the stimulus at real estate, at the stock market.”

Cramer warned that the financial sector will face a significant test on Tuesday, as different banks will be reporting their earnings. Cramer reminded investors that we are just at the beginning of one of the year’s four reporting periods, which can be chaotic and open to various interpretations.

“We’re at the beginning of one of the year’s four reporting periods,” he said. “They’re jumbled. They’re open to a lot of interpretation. They’re fast. So listen to the calls, ponder a moment, and only then should you pull the trigger.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 14 stocks that are slated to release earnings this week and were discussed by Cramer during his episode of Mad Money on October 11. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the second quarter, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of more than 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).

An aerial view of a well site, depicting the scale of oil and gas operations.

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67

Cramer has recently expressed disappointment that the stock has not gone up as much as he would have expected but also called it “the best of breed”. He discussed Schlumberger Limited’s (NYSE:SLB) performance in the context of the anticipated lowering of oil prices. He said:

“SLB reports, and the old Schlumberger just hasn’t been able to catch fire despite the bounce in oil for the last two weeks. Sure, it’s up a high single digits on a percentage basis, but a number of oil service companies had a tough time because the Saudis keep saying that oil prices could be low for long and you don’t want to go against the Saudis.”

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) specializes in areas such as carbon management and the integration of energy systems, addressing various aspects of the energy landscape. The company’s operations include reservoir interpretation, well construction services, and evaluations of subsurface geology, all vital components for optimizing exploration and production activities.

On September 30, Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) announced the establishment of Turnwell Industries LLC OPC, a joint venture formed in collaboration with ADNOC Drilling Company and Patterson-UTI. The partnership plans to use advanced innovations in artificial intelligence, smart drilling design, and sophisticated completions engineering, with the goal of expediting the United Arab Emirates initiatives in unconventional oil and gas development. The venture targets the completion of an initial 144 wells by the end of 2025.

Within this structure, ADNOC Drilling will maintain a 55% majority stake, while Schlumberger will hold 30%, and Patterson-UTI will possess the remaining 15%. The company will provide various integrated services, including drilling, stimulation, and completion solutions, as well as project management and digital capabilities to ensure the venture’s success.

Overall SLB ranks 11th on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer is talking about before earnings. While we acknowledge the potential of SLB 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 SLB but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

Read Next: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA ‘Has Become A Wasteland’.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.