Disney’s Alice in Wonderland hits theaters this weekend, with many locations across the US already sold out. Alice, along with Avatar, is the latest in a line of must-see 3-D flicks that’s driving the industry as a whole, but DIS is not the way to play the trend, Cramer said Friday. Investors should go with DreamWorks Animation instead.
Cramer first got the idea for DWA from Danny Meyer, a restaurateur and author of Setting the Table, who has proved himself an expert at judging consumer behavior. Meyer says that companies that prioritize customer service engender a loyalty that helps them survive even the worst of downturns. And the success of the hospitality index he created for Mad Money shows just how right he is: It’s up 101 percent since its Feb. 2, 2009, inception versus just 37 percent for the S&P 500.
Why does Meyer like DWA? Because its movies make people feel good. Yeah, it’s not the type of analytical rigor that Mad Money viewers are used to. But Cramer did the research and Meyer’s hunch panned out.
Now “I can confidently tell you that I think DreamWorks Animation is a buy,” the Mad Money host said.