Jim Cramer’s 2022 outlook for the S&P 500’s 10 biggest winners last year

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday shared his thoughts on how the S&P 500’s 10 biggest winners in 2021 will perform in 2022.

“The biggest takeaway should be the remarkable resurgence of the oils. Just as important, I think many of the S&P’s biggest winners can keep winning, even if they can’t all rival the incredible performances from last year,” Cramer said.

The “Mad Money” host said he believes Devon Energy, which gained nearly 179% in 2021, is well-positioned to see additional upside this year along with the broader oil and gas cohort. He also noted that Devon’s variable dividend policy is gaining popularity in the industry.

Cramer said he believes Marathon Oil could be an “under-the-radar repeat winner” in 2022, as long as the price of crude oil remains near its current levels. Marathon Oil, which saw its shares rise 146% last year, has exercised capital discipline, paid down debt and has around $2.5 billion set aside for share buybacks, Cramer said.

Shares of the Covid vaccine maker jumped 143% in 2021. However, Cramer said he believes Moderna will struggle to repeat that kind of performance in 2022 “unless the company can find a way to diversify away from the pandemic and into the specialized cancer vaccines that first attracted me to Moderna a few years ago.”

“I expect most of these cybersecurity names to have a very good year in 2022, because as long as people are working remotely, businesses need to bend over backward to stop hackers,” Cramer said. “However, I don’t expect Fortinet to do as well as it did last year,” when it gained 142%.

Cramer added that he prefers Cloudflare, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks in the industry.

Cramer said he was surprised the New York-based commercial bank rallied 139% in 2021, which broadly speaking wasn’t a great year for financial technology firms and big banks.

Signature Bank shares are “expensive and, all in all, I’d rather own one of the majors,” Cramer said. “But Signature, with real interest rate sensitivity, could still have a good move if the Fed tightens aggressively this year.”

Cramer, whose charitable trust owns Ford Motor shares, said he believes the automaker could repeat in 2022 its monster 2021 performance, when it gained 138%. He cited Ford’s continued development of electric vehicles and its large stake in EV startup Rivian that “can be monetized.”

Bath & Body Works advanced 132% last year and may have additional upside in 2022, Cramer said. Even so, the “Mad Money” host said he’d prefers Bed Bath & Beyond amid that company’s turnaround efforts.

Cramer noted that his charitable trust also owns shares of Nvidia, which rose over 125% last year. The semiconductor firm, a key player in artificial intelligence and machine learning, has been decried as overvalued for years even when its stock was much lower, Cramer said. Nvidia’s efforts around its proposed acquisition of Arm Holdings is something to watch for the stock in 2022, Cramer said.

Cramer said he thinks oil producer Diamondback Energy has “tremendous upside surprise capability,” while noting the company’s recent acquisitions and its ability to cut back on drilling and exploration costs. He added, “I think it’s one of the more likely to repeat its 123% gain from last year.”

“Most people think it will be impossible for Nucor to repeat its 115% rally from last year, but the stock has a history of giving you fabulous multi-year rallies when the business cycle is in its favor,” Cramer said, adding that he believes Wall Street’s earnings estimates for the steelmaker are “way, way too low.”

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Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Nucor, Ford Motor and Nvidia.

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