We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Sees Opportunity in Pessimism and Highlights These 12 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses.

In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer pushed back against widespread pessimism surrounding the U.S. economy, particularly when it comes to the health of the consumer. Referencing recent data and strong bank earnings, he argued that fears of a sharp slowdown are overstated:

“Consumer spending is up nicely. I mean, for all the things you hear about, the pessimistic surveys, year over year is good. And David, I think that as we forget, as long as unemployment stays as low as it is, we’re going to surprise people in terms of the economy, despite the fact that there’s a lot of stir and drag when it comes to the White House.”

READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s List of 16 Stocks to Buy Right Now and Jim Cramer Answers If the Market Has Bottomed and Weighs In On 11 Stocks

Asked whether the consumer will remain strong in the face of tariffs and political noise, Cramer stayed optimistic, saying jobs matter more than headlines:

“I think that the agri-consumer, as long as they have jobs, yes. I don’t think they sit there and say, you know what, there’s coming tariff, I’m going to just disappear. Now you can see these numbers are pulled through. I don’t buy that. “

He then shifted to the recent dislocation in equity markets, pointing out that even companies reporting solid earnings have seen analysts cut price targets, saying:

“The reset that happened of stocks getting clogged. We’re just now starting to deal with how awful it was. The market just had, that sell-off was so quick and so vicious that companies that are reporting good numbers, the analysts are saying, listen, really good numbers. I’m cutting my price target. I’m not used to that. I’m used to really good numbers and price target bump. “

Later, citing the latest Bank of America survey showing extreme bearishness, Cramer interpreted the results as a contrarian signal that could point to an opportunity for investors:

“Well, I just think that in the end, the fundamentals are going to will out. I think that this survey about pessimism. I mean, that says buy, not sell. So, I mean, I think people are really beaten down. I know people are beaten down.”

Our Methodology

To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on April 15th.

For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

A close up of a glass of a refreshing carbonated beverage illustrating the company's different beverages.

PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Number of Hedge Fund holders: 69

Jim Cramer referenced PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) after a surprise downgrade from Bank of America, which cited pricing pressures and declining beverage market share. Cramer viewed it as a warning about inflation’s impact on consumer staples. Here are his remarks:

“So out of nowhere, Bank of America, which has been a staunch supporter of PepsiCo, downgrades it, basically says snacks are too expensive. They’re losing share in beverages. Dave, when I read this, I said, this is the kind of thing that I’m most concerned about. These food companies have raised price, raised price, raised price. And then in the interim, it got too expensive. And they talk about the convenience store and working class people who can’t afford to get to buy things.”

Overall, PEP ranks 4th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. While we acknowledge the potential of PEP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PEP but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.