On Thursday, Jim Cramer and portfolio director Jeff Marks held the CNBC Investing Club's September Monthly Meeting. They ran through each stock in the portfolio, with Jim putting special emphasis on his six favorite names to buy right now as we become more selective about our AI exposure. He also dedicated some time at the start of the meeting to lessons learned from our recent exit of Corning . 6 names to buy now Kimberly Clark : The pending Kenvue acquisition should add scale, lower costs, and give management an opportunity to reinvigorate its portfolio of under-managed consumer health brands. The Cottonelle and Huggies parent was hit hard on Wednesday after management lowered its near-term earnings outlook , and we're considering whether to use the pullback to increase our small position. Bank of New York : This is a lower-risk financial that provides a nice counterbalance to Capital One. Roughly 70% of its revenue is fee-based, making the business less exposed to the credit cycle and interest rate changes. CEO Robin Vince's transformation is also delivering results, with BNY posting 14 consecutive quarters of year-over-year sales growth and record sales in each of the past two. Intel : We like Intel after the stock's sharp pullback, exacerbated by concerns about the government lockup's expiration. Given President Donald Trump's recent posts touting gains in U.S. government holdings, a near-term sale seems unlikely. The chipmaker is also raising CPU prices and attracting foundry customers, and we think the stock can recover its losses and move higher . Micron : The memory maker remains one of our highest-conviction semiconductor names , trading at just six times fiscal 2027 earnings. Memory pricing continues to rise, advanced HBM shipments from its new factory will begin in January, and we see a potential catalyst from a large buyback once government restrictions expire in December. Meta : The market is underappreciating the favorability of Meta's recent legal settlement . With that overhang diminished, the company can focus on becoming a major cloud-services provider. Even after its rally, the stock trades at only about 19 times earnings, leaving us convinced there's more upside . The Facebook and Instagram parent is our favorite of the Magnificent 7 . FedEx : FedEx is a buy at roughly 16 times earnings, and we think the stock is biding its time before a breakout. We expect a strong holiday season and believe the shipping giant has an opportunity to gain share from UPS , which makes us willing to look past concerns about higher fuel prices. Tech and other AI names Nvidia : We haven't given up on Nvidia despite curbing our enthusiasm across the broader semiconductor group. At roughly 14 times fiscal 2028 estimates, the stock is exceptionally inexpensive given its earnings power. The acquisition of Hugging Face only strengthens its AI ecosystem. We view Nvidia as an own-it, don't-trade stock. GE Vernova : We still like the stock, despite concerns about data center construction . Turbine cancellations haven't materialized, and order growth has actually accelerated in some states considering data center moratoriums, reinforcing our confidence in the long-term power demand story. Eaton : The electrical equipment supplier's opportunity extends well beyond data centers . It would have an excellent business simply from rebuilding the aging electric grid. Eaton's aerospace and traditional electrical operations make it less risky than a pure-play data center name. Qnity : Despite the stock's sharp decline, Qnity makes some of the best materials used in semiconductor manufacturing. The market may better appreciate this DuPont spin-off once it attracts more technology analyst coverage rather than being viewed primarily through a chemicals lens. Amazon : Of the hyperscalers, Amazon has the most going for it outside the data center thanks to its fast-growing cloud business and dominant retail operation. Amazon could be the first hyperscaler to show investors substantial profits from AI . Alphabet & Microsoft : We expect Alphabet and Microsoft to report spectacular data center numbers by this time next year, and that growth will demonstrate why the companies have been willing to invest so aggressively. CrowdStrike & Palo Alto : As AI agents become more capable — and potentially more dangerous — the need for cybersecurity to keep them in check is only growing . CrowdStrike and Palo Alto are best positioned to address these emerging threats, making them our two favorite ways to play the rising cybersecurity demands created by AI. Salesforce : The software giant's rally ahead of Dreamforce showed why we've stuck with the stock. Next week's event could provide further evidence that major enterprises remain committed to Salesforce, and we don't think software will surrender all its recent hard-fought gains. Apple: We continue to view Apple as an own-it, don't-trade-it stock as John Ternus takes over as CEO. The product pipeline remains strong, and the new foldable iPhone could be a major hit. Broadcom : This chipmaker is our least favorite tech holding, so we trimmed the position heading into the quarter. Management offered some bold forecasts on its latest earnings call, but we worry that increasingly fierce competition from both Nvidia and Marvell could make those targets harder to achieve. The rest Capital One : The bank remains frustratingly cheap at roughly 10 times earnings, even accounting for the risk that higher rates could eventually increase credit losses. The consumer balance sheet remains healthy , giving us confidence to wait for the stock to move higher . Wells Fargo : A valuation of roughly 12 times earnings is absurd. Higher rates could slow some of that progress, but the healthy consumer backdrop and discounted valuation give us reason to stay patient. Goldman Sachs : This is the investment bank's year, particularly with underwriting activity strengthening. At roughly 15 times earnings, the stock appears priced as if the IPO market won't recover, even though we expect plenty more offerings to come. Cardinal Health : We still like the drug distributor even after its strong run and recent pullback. Its valuation remains below McKesson and roughly in line with Cencora , which understates the quality and diversification of Cardinal's business and leaves room for the stock to reach new highs. Johnson & Johnson : JNJ remains the class of the healthcare industry, with 18 potential blockbusters and an underappreciated medical-device business. We don't expect the stock to blow investors away after its recent run, but the pipeline is too strong for us to consider selling. Eli Lilly : The drugmaker may not deliver the same spectacular gains from here after its huge run , but we see no reason to sell. Its pipeline of next-generation GLP-1 treatments gives us confidence that the company's growth story still has plenty of runway. Boeing : Geopolitical tensions need to ease so investors can refocus on the company's improving fundamentals. We expect Boeing to generate immense cash flow next year, but we cannot get too excited until the war is no longer dominating sentiment. DuPont : The stock remains in a holding pattern, despite a terrific quarter. Management needs to tell a better story for the stock to begin reflecting the underlying performance. Otherwise, it may be time to move on to more fruitful investments after next quarter. Home Depot : The home improvement retailer remains heavily dependent on interest rates, which are moving in the wrong direction. We're glad we reduced our position and see little reason to become more aggressive until the rate backdrop improves. FedEx Freight : The stock continues to struggle following its separation from FedEx. Once that technical stock pressure post-spin clears and oil prices come down, investors will recognize it is one of the highest-quality less-than-truckload companies in the market. Linde : We view the stock's recent pause as a rest rather than a change in the thesis. Too many of the industrial gas giant's businesses are performing well, particularly across healthcare, energy and semiconductors, for us to become concerned. Starbucks : The coffee chain delivered another good quarter, and we think the turnaround is approaching an inflection point . The stock remains volatile, but we'd view a drop below $100 as an opportunity to buy. Honeywell : This investment has been a mistake so far, and we're running out of patience. We're holding the remaining business because climate control and security offer legitimate growth opportunities, but we need a substantially better quarter next time because there can be no more excuses. TJX Companies : The discount retailer's latest quarter was plainly disappointing, but we're willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. The stock's recent decline is beginning to reflect much of the setback, but we need next quarter to show that this was an aberration before becoming more confident. Costco : We're increasingly cautious on the big-box retailer after Walmart's decline highlighted the risk of paying a premium multiple for retail. At roughly 44 times earnings, Costco needs to execute, and another mediocre quarter would force us to reconsider our holding. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. 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From CNBC Tech
By CNBC Tech
September 10, 2026
