Cramer and Marks Name Six Favorite Buys in CNBC Investing Club Portfolio Review

The six favorite names to buy are Kimberly-Clark, Bank of New York, Intel, Micron, Meta Platforms and FedEx. On Kimberly-Clark, Cramer and Marks said the pending Kenvue acquisition should add scale, lower costs and give management a chance to reinvigorate a portfolio of under-managed consumer health brands. The Cottonelle and Huggies parent fell sharply on Wednesday after management lowered its near-term earnings outlook, and the club is considering whether to use the pullback to increase its small position.

Bank of New York is a lower-risk financial that provides a counterbalance to Capital One, they said. About 70% of its revenue is fee-based, reducing exposure to the credit cycle and interest rate changes. CEO Robin Vince's transformation is delivering results, with BNY posting 14 consecutive quarters of year-over-year sales growth and record sales in each of the past two years.

Intel is attractive after a sharp pullback exacerbated by concerns about the expiration of a government lockup, according to the club. Given President Donald Trump's recent posts touting gains in U.S. government holdings, a near-term sale seems unlikely. The chipmaker is raising CPU prices and attracting foundry customers, and the club thinks the stock can recover its losses and move higher. Micron remains one of the club's highest-conviction semiconductor names, trading at just six times fiscal 2027 earnings. Memory pricing continues to rise, advanced HBM shipments from its new factory will begin in January, and the club sees a potential catalyst from a large buyback once government restrictions expire in December.

Meta's recent legal settlement is being underappreciated by the market, Cramer and Marks said. With that overhang diminished, the company can focus on becoming a major cloud-services provider. Even after its rally, the stock trades at only about 19 times earnings, leaving the club convinced there is more upside. Meta is its favorite of the Magnificent 7. FedEx is a buy at roughly 16 times earnings, and the club thinks the stock is biding its time before a breakout. It expects a strong holiday season and believes the shipping giant has an opportunity to gain share from UPS, which makes it willing to look past concerns about higher fuel prices.

Among technology and other AI-related names, the club has not given up on Nvidia despite curbing enthusiasm across the broader semiconductor group. At roughly 14 times fiscal 2028 estimates, the stock is exceptionally inexpensive given its earnings power, and the acquisition of Hugging Face only strengthens its AI ecosystem. The club views Nvidia as an own-it, don't-trade stock.

GE Vernova is still liked despite concerns about data center construction. Turbine cancellations have not materialized, and order growth has accelerated in some states considering data center moratoriums, reinforcing confidence in the long-term power demand story. Eaton's opportunity extends well beyond data centers, the club said, because rebuilding the aging electric grid alone would be an excellent business. Eaton's aerospace and traditional electrical operations make it less risky than a pure-play data center name. Qnity, despite a sharp decline, makes some of the best materials used in semiconductor manufacturing. The market may better appreciate the DuPont spin-off once it attracts more technology analyst coverage rather than being viewed primarily through a chemicals lens.

Amazon has the most going for it outside the data center among hyperscalers, thanks to its fast-growing cloud business and dominant retail operation. It could be the first hyperscaler to show investors substantial profits from AI. Alphabet and Microsoft are expected to report spectacular data center numbers by this time next year, and that growth will demonstrate why the companies have been willing to invest so aggressively. CrowdStrike and Palo Alto are the club's two favorite ways to play rising cybersecurity demands created by AI, as AI agents become more capable and potentially more dangerous. Salesforce's rally ahead of Dreamforce showed why the club has stuck with the stock, and next week's event could provide further evidence that major enterprises remain committed to Salesforce. The club does not think software will surrender all its recent hard-fought gains. Apple remains an own-it, don't-trade-it stock as John Ternus takes over as CEO.

Editor's Summary. The CNBC Investing Club's September meeting reviewed a 33-stock portfolio and named Kimberly-Clark, Bank of New York, Intel, Micron, Meta and FedEx as six favorite buys while the club takes a more selective approach to AI exposure. Cramer and Marks also maintained views on Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, Salesforce and Apple, citing data-center growth, cybersecurity demand and power infrastructure. The meeting began with lessons from the club's recent exit from Corning.