We recently published a list of Jim Cramer’s Top Picks: 10 Stocks to Buy and Sell. Since Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) ranks 8th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.
Commenting on the aggressive rate cut by the Federal Reserve, Jim Cramer said in a latest program on CNBC that the “double” rate cut was needed for the economy and it would help the housing market, industrials and companies catering to the “less well-off” households.
“There really are two economies in this country. There is the one that needs lower interest rates because business is slowing and it’s harder to find a job and then there is one that says we don’t really care about where the stinking rates are. That’s who we can get a double rate cut today and still going lower.”
Cramer said he is currently in Silicon Valley and after talking to many companies, he feels tech companies do not care about interest rates since they are selling to businesses. Cramer said these technology companies are focused on innovation.
For this article, we picked 10 stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about during his latest programs on CNBC. With each company we have 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 38
When asked about Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) in a latest program, here is what Jim Cramer said:
“That stock really does have me very concerned.”
Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) shares are down about 69% so far this year. The company’s second-quarter results came in short of market expectations amid the “fleet refresh” steps taken by the company and higher operating expenses per transaction in addition to depreciation costs that has been dragging the company’s results for multiple quarters.
The rise in direct operating expenses per transaction was primarily due to non-recurring charges, with the rest attributed to higher insurance, personnel, collision, and damage costs, as well as general inflation. Adjusted corporate EBITDA turned negative at $460 million, compared to a positive $347 million last year, mainly driven by a spike in vehicle depreciation, which jumped to $600 per unit per month from $197 a year earlier.
The number of rental vehicles grew by 3%, but utilization dropped by 2 percentage points to 80%. Revenue per transaction day (RPD) fell 3% to $59.94, contributing to a 3% drop in overall revenue to $2.4 billion, falling short of Wall Street estimates.
On the balance sheet, vehicle-related debt increased by 4.3%, while non-vehicle debt surged 33%, leading to an 11% rise in total debt to $17.4 billion. Free cash flow remained negative, widening to -$553 million.
Amid increasing problems and lack of visibility into new catalysts, analysts believe it’s better to stay away from Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) for now.
Overall, Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ)ranks 8th on Insider Monkey’s list titled Jim Cramer’s Top Picks: 10 Stocks to Buy and Sell. While we acknowledge the potential of Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HTZ but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.