Jim Cramer on Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX)’s Suzetrigine: ‘I Don’t See A Lot Of Upside Because That Was The Drug Of The Future For Vertex’
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 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) 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.”
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 pharmacist delivering a specific medication to a patient in a specialty pharmacy.
A caller mentioned disappointing news regarding Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated’s (NASDAQ:VRTX) drug suzetrigine and asked Cramer if the outlook was positive for the company or not.
“I'll tell you, you know, I've gotta tell you… I was sorely disappointed on that. I was praying that they would have something that wouldn't be addictive and it looks like it's not working. I would not, you know, now it reflects the other great drugs they have and nothing good on that drug. But I don't see a lot of upside because that was the drug of the future for Vertex.”
Vertex (NASDAQ:VRTX) focuses on developing and marketing therapies for cystic fibrosis (CF) and has a pipeline of treatments in clinical trials for multiple conditions. ClearBridge Investments stated the following regarding Vertex (NASDAQ:VRTX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“For the quarter, health care was the largest drag on relative results as larger holdings Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) and UnitedHealth Group suffered losses. Vertex, a biotechnology company known for its cystic fibrosis treatments, was hurt by a setback in clinical trials for its new therapeutic, suzetrigine, in the chronic pain setting. The company is continuing forward for this indication in the hopes that altering the future design of its trial will yield more promising results. Additionally, Vertex hopes to commercially launch the drug for acute pain in the first quarter and is still seeing growth and patent life extension in its cystic fibrosis franchise. The company also has additional pipeline assets, most notably to treat mediated kidney disease and Type 1 diabetes, which gives us confidence in the company’s ability to sustain profitable growth over the long term.”
Overall VRTX ranks 4th on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about. While we acknowledge the potential of VRTX 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 VRTX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
