Cramer picks favorite down-and-out stock for 2023 and calls a bottom on another name

Published Thu, Dec 15 20221:05 PM ESTUpdated Thu, Dec 15 20221:52 PM EST

There are two stocks in our portfolio that are in rough shape. But Jim Cramer said during the Club's December "Monthly Meeting" on Thursday that he has hope for both of them. Disney (DIS), Jim said, might just be his favorite down-and-out stock for 2023. But let's connect the dots on how he got there. He said he tried to work with recently-ousted CEO Bob Chapek , and even tried to understand his vision for the company. But ultimately, Jim came to a brutal conclusion: Chapek didn't have one and he had to go. Bob Iger is back as Disney CEO. But Iger wrecked the company's balance sheet with the 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox . The good news, as Jim puts it, is that Iger knows how to manage talent, whereas talent thought that Chapek was a buffoon. Talent matters in the entertainment business. Iger is quietly competitive — and if he doesn't have this stock to at least $125-per-share, where it was when he launched Disney+ , "it would shock me," Jim said. The Club sees the stock as a buy at current levels, as our 1 rating indicates. Now to Salesforce (CRM), which Jim believes has bottomed out, citing a combination of good orders, a weaker U.S. dollar , massive cost cuts, and the prodding of Starboard — an activist hedge fund. Jim said that when he was talking with co-CEO Marc Benioff last week, the Salesforce co-founder was still a little broken up by the sudden decision by co-CEO Bret Taylor to leave the enterprise software company next month. Benioff will continue as sole CEO. Concerning other recent departures , as Jim describes it, Benioff said something pretty compelling and newsworthy: they weren't all voluntary. Benioff has had it, according to Jim. He wants to lead one of of the biggest, best and most profitable software companies in the world. The Taylor exit was a blow to Salesforce, Jim said, but added if you want to lament that Benioff lost a second co-CEO go right ahead. "I like the solo, driven one they have now," he added. Our 2 rating on Salesforce indicates we're waiting for the stock come down further before buying. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long DIS and CRM. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Robert Iger, Chairman and CEO at The Walt Disney Company speaks in Laguna Beach, California, October 22, 2019.

Mike Blake | Reuters

There are two stocks in our portfolio that are in rough shape. But Jim Cramer said during the Club's December "Monthly Meeting" on Thursday that he has hope for both of them.