Jim Cramer examined the recent market movements during his program on CNBC on February 10. Cramer said the market has been up for 14 out of the last 15 weeks. Cramer said this hasn’t happened since 1972. He thinks amid strong earnings and rate cuts on the horizon, investors have learned that you are much better off "owning stocks" instead of trading them. Cramer said he's long been a believer of owning stocks and holding them for long periods of time. Cramer talked about the recent market rally and said it would take something really "nasty" to stop this rally.
Cramer said the best time to own stocks is between the Fed's last rate hike and the first cut. Cramer said that it would make sense for the Fed to postpone rate cuts amid inflation and investors can skill take benefit from strong earnings and rally in stocks.
Cramer recently also talked about a trend which he calls "authentic stupidity" where some stocks that should go higher are either going down or unable to realize their true potential. Cramer believes Apple is one of the victims of this authentic stupidity. Cramer quoted a "nameless analyst" from DA Davidson who in January gave a $166 price target to Apple and a Neutral rating, citing lack of innovation. Cramer said the same analyst, after the launch of Apple's Vision Pro, upped his price target on Apple shares to $200 and said "game changing innovation is back."
Everyone knows Cramer is bullish on mega-cap quality tech stocks like Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). But what are his latest stock picks? For this article we watched Cramer's latest programs and picked some new stocks on the analyst's radar. For each stock we have also mentioned hedge fund sentiment. Hedge funds’ top 10 consensus stock picks outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here).
Jim Cramer believes Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH), which is down about 42% over the past one year, might finally be bottoming. Cramer said Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) suffered because of rising interest rates since the residential solar industry was highly reliant on financing. Cramer quoted Enphase Energy Inc's (NASDAQ:ENPH) CEO Badri Kothandaraman who recently said in Enphase Energy Inc's (NASDAQ:ENPH) fourth quarter earnings call that things are expected to start turning around for Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) in the first quarter.
Cramer specifically highlighted the following comments of the CEO:
"We think Q1 could be the bottom quarter. Europe is already showing early signs of recovery, and we expect the non-California states to bounce back quickly."
Enphase also talked about Q1 guidance during its call:
"Let’s now come to our Q1 guidance. We are guiding revenue in the range of $260 million to $300 million. We expect the sell-through of our products to be seasonally down in Q1. We plan to undership to the end market demand for our products by approximately $130 million in Q1. We are forecasting to undership in Q2 as well, although at a much reduced level, and expect the channel to be normalized by the end of Q2. Let’s talk about new products, starting with IQ batteries. Our sell-through for batteries has been increasing steadily over the last few quarters. Our third-generation battery delivers the best power specs and commissioning times of any Enphase battery today at a 15-year industry-leading warranty. The battery adoption rates are on the rise globally and we are well positioned to grow our battery sales in 2024."
You can read the entire earnings call transcript of Enphase by clicking here.
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 49
Jim Cramer was recently asked about his thoughts on asset management and financial services company Oxford Lane Capital Corp (NASDAQ:OXLC). Cramer advised against buying the stock as he said we don’t know "what they own." Cramer said he likes "the concept" of the industry and in this regard recommended investors to buy Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) instead.
"They really know how to do it," Cramer said.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 49 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX). The biggest stake in Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) is owned by Thomas Steyer's Farallon Capital which owns a $239 million stake in Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX).
Baron Real Estate Fund stated the following regarding Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“We remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) and Brookfield because we believe both companies are likely to increase market share in a secular growth opportunity for alternative assets.
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 18
Specialty chemicals and ingredients company Hawkins Inc (NASDAQ:HWKN) ranks ninth in our list of the best stocks to buy now according to Jim Cramer. A questioner recently asked Jim Cramer whether she should buy more Hawkins Inc (NASDAQ:HWKN) shares. Cramer said the answer is "Yes." Cramer believes the water chemicals business had a tough year in 2023 but he sees only good times ahead for the sector.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 18 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Hawkins Inc (NASDAQ:HWKN), compared to just seven hedge funds in the previous quarter. This shows a major increase in hedge fund sentiment.
A total of 18 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Hawkins Inc (NASDAQ:HWKN) as of the end of the third quarter of 2023.
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 35
Jim Cramer was recently asked about his thoughts on insurance company Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL). Cramer said the stock is a Buy. Cramer thinks Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL) shares should be bought because the insurance industry is thriving.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 35 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL).
In addition to Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL), Cramer is also bullish on Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 57
Jim Cramer recently praised Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) earnings on Twitter as well as during his program on CNBC. Cramer said that investors were wrong to be wary of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) . During the fourth quarter Chipotle's adjusted EPS came in at $10.36, beating estimates by $0.63. Revenue in the quarter jumped 15.6% year over year to $2.52 billion, beating estimates by $30 million. Comparable sales jumped 8.4%.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 57 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) . The biggest stake in the company is owned by Bill Ackman's Pershing Square which owns a $1.7 billion stake in the company.
ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“In the consumer discretionary sector, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) proved a detractor as investors were disappointed in management’s decision not to push additional menu pricing, which resulted in full year guidance falling short of expectations. However, we believe this is just a timing mismatch as their value proposition relative to peers leaves room for continued strong pricing power.”
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 63
Jim Cramer was asked about his thoughts on home construction company Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN) in a latest program. Cramer said Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN) is "so good" and praised Lennar Corp's (NYSE:LEN) leadership. Cramer said the stock should go "higher."
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 63 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN). The most significant stake in Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN) is owned by Edgar Wachenheim's Greenhaven Associates which owns a $1 billion stake in Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN).
Like Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Jim Cramer also likes Lennar.
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Disclosure. None. Jim Cramer's 11 Latest Stock Picks was initially published on Insider Monkey.
