Jim Cramer’s Thoughts On These 8 Stocks and the Packaged Goods Playbook

2. The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) manufactures and markets a wide range of consumer and professional products across various categories, including cleaning, disinfecting, household items, personal care, food products, and health supplements. Discussing how packaged goods stocks are getting hit these days, Cramer said, “Clorox got walled after a quarter that was not up to snuff.”

Cramer also noted that it is possible to get cheaper products than ones offered by Clorox (NYSE:CLX), giving the example of Chewy’s cat litter vs. Clorox’s Fresh Step cat litter. In January, Cramer discussed a few reasons behind the stock’s recent dips. Cramer noted that the challenges include rising long-term interest rates, which pressure dividend stock.

He also pointed out the growing pricing pressures from heavy discounts on products from major retailers and online marketplaces, making it harder for companies like Clorox (NYSE:CLX) to maintain margins. Cramer added:

“The dollar’s gotten too strong. These consumer packaged goods companies tend to be very big overseas. That’s not the case with Clorox, which is largely domestic. But you know how our stock market works. The consumer staples all trade together. If the dollar hurts a big international company like Procter & Gamble as it is, it’s gonna reverberate even into Clorox because they’re all in the same sector, and sector ETFs are like gravity.”