Jim Cramer Picks DuPont Over Xylem, Has Cold Feet on Lam Research

On CNBC’s “Mad Money Lightning Round,” Jim Cramer said Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) is not as good as DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD).

On Wednesday, Argus Research analyst John Eade downgraded Xylem from Buy to Hold.

When asked about Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX), he noted that the stock is down $36.

“So, you think it’s a buy, right? Sells at 19 times earnings. It’s all the way down to $185, but it was at $135 last year at this time, and that means to me that there’s still some more downside,” Cramer explained. “I hate to be that simplistic, but as much as I like that stock if I had to buy 100 shares, I would only buy 25 of it tomorrow [on Friday], and then I’d wait.”

Lam Research, on Thursday, announced a $25 billion buyback plan and declared a quarterly dividend of 33 cents per share of common stock.

Cramer said Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) is still up for the year and he doesn’t want to buy a stock in the data center that’s up for the year. “I want it to come down a lot, even though I know it’s doing great, because things have gotten very uncertain,” he added.

On the earnings front, Vertiv Holdings reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results on Oct. 28 and raised its FY26 guidance above estimates.

When asked about First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), Cramer said Nextpower Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT) is the “way to play it.”

William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer upgraded First Solar on Thursday from Market Perform to Outperform.

Price Action

• Lam Research shares fell 16.4% to settle at $185.20 on Thursday.
• Xylem shares fell 1% to close at $100.05.
• Vertiv shares dipped 14% to settle at $176.73.
• First Solar shares gained 0.6% to close at $195.76.

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