As U.S. stocks extend gains on the back of an artificial intelligence boom, CNBC host Jim Cramer warned of risks from the tech-heavy trade and pointed to non-tech stocks such as finance, healthcare and consumer goods as alternatives.
On June 2, CNBC reported that Cramer said data centre and AI-related stocks have started rising again, but fatigue signals are appearing within technology stocks. He said investors need to diversify their portfolios and named JPMorgan, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, McDonald's, Yum Brands and Kraft Heinz as promising picks.
Cramer said enthusiasm for AI investing has strengthened again since Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's Computex keynote speech, but signs of slowing growth are emerging at some software companies.
He also forecast that supply-demand pressure could grow across the tech stock market if Alphabet's possible additional share issuance and listing moves by big companies such as SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI continue. "Tech stocks seem to have multiple vulnerabilities building up right now," he said. "I want to look for investment opportunities in other sectors."
His top recommendation was JPMorgan Chase. Cramer said financial stocks have shown the weakest performance among S&P 500 sectors this year, but that could instead be a source of appeal. JPMorgan's forward price-to-earnings ratio has fallen to around 13 from about 15 at the start of the year, and its shares are down about 7 percent year-to-date. "It is not common to get a chance to buy JPMorgan at a price this cheap," he said, stressing that the bank's fundamentals remain solid.
In healthcare, he singled out Johnson & Johnson. Cramer said he also views Eli Lilly and Company positively as it leads the boom in obesity drugs, but said Johnson & Johnson could be a more attractive choice at this point. He cited its new-drug pipeline, a growing medical devices business and the effects of recent acquisitions as strengths. He added, however, that investors should take a staged buying approach because it is unclear when sector rotation will begin.
In consumer staples, he recommended Kimberly-Clark. He cited its portfolio of household brands, stable dividends and the possibility of future business restructuring as investment points.
In the restaurant sector, he picked McDonald's and Yum Brands. Cramer said they are valued below fair value as the preference for tech stocks persists. For Yum Brands, he gave a positive assessment of the competitiveness of its core brands such as KFC and Taco Bell, along with the possibility of restructuring related to Pizza Hut.
He also named Kraft Heinz as a defensive investment alternative. He said it could maintain its dividend appeal if the business normalisation strategy pursued by current management proves effective. Kraft Heinz's dividend yield is known to be around 7 percent.
Cramer's emphasis on non-tech stocks comes as expanding investment in AI infrastructure raises funding burdens. He said data centre construction alone could require hundreds of billions of dollars in funding in the future, and forecast that if companies move to issue additional shares in the process, it could weigh on supply and demand for tech stocks.
He also said that in a situation where money is overly concentrated in AI-related stocks, sectors that have been relatively neglected could emerge as alternative investments during a market correction.
The market has in fact seen finance, healthcare and consumer staples lag technology stocks this year. As a result, investors are focusing on whether those sectors could benefit from rotation if the AI rally slows.