CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday said Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has caught his attention as a top performer with strong guidance in 2019.
The "Mad Money" host said the company stands out because it's the biggest winner in the cruise line category and the stock has risen 40 percent so far this year. The industry was left for dead in September as investors worried about the market overcrowding and industry prices slipped, he said.
Now Cramer is giving the green light on Norwegian Cruise at current levels because the line defied those concerns after giving a strong earnings report last week.
"They're confident about the future. Look, their biggest brands, 80 percent of their capacity for 2019 has already been booked," he said. "For 2020, they've booked a third, and that's at higher prices. I like this."
In addition to that, Norwegian is benefiting from cheaper oil prices, which is one of its biggest costs.
"You've got my blessing to buy Norwegian Cruise right here," he said.
But Norwegian is not the only stock cruising higher this year. Cramer noted that the S&P 500 is up nearly 19 percent and the Nasdaq is up 22 percent since bottoming out the day after Christmas. Nearly 490 of the stocks on the S&P 500 are in positive territory since hitting lows in the fourth quarter.
Watch Cramer discuss the stocks that have climbed the highest this year here.
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A store front window in Miami Beach.
The market got off to a "great start" Friday after the first two months of the year were terrific, but there is some worry that it could lose some momentum, Cramer said.
The major indexes all continued to rise on the first day of March, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 100 points, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gaining less than 1 percent.
The "Mad Money" host said he's curious to see if the rally will hold now that many stocks have rebounded from December's drop off. There's one report looming that Cramer said could be a determining factor.
"The one thing that might stand in the way of a continued rally—other than the possibility of a blown trade deal with China—is the non-farm payroll report on Friday," he said.
Click here to see Cramer's game plan for next week.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Kim Blickenstaff, Executive Chairman of Tandem Diabetes.
Tandem Diabetes CEO Kim Blickenstaff told Cramer it's the only medical device company that sells an insulin pump with similar characteristics to an Apple iPhone: touchscreen capability.
The company sells the T:slim X2 insulin pump and has been able to deliver good numbers for shareholders, Blickenstaff said in a sit-down interview on "Mad Money."
When Tandem Diabetes got started in the sector, the chief noted that there were about five players in the space. That number has since dipped, he said.
"We can remotely update that software just like the iPhone, so it's very much sort of the Apple model," he Blickenstaff said. "And we're now down to two competitors in the marketplace, ourselves and Medtronic, so it's a duopoly."
Catch the full interview here.
Brittany Sowacke | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A worker prepares to lift drills by pulley to the main floor of a drilling rig in the Permian basin.
The United States is now the largest oil producer in the world, but most people may not have noticed, Cramer said. The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced in September that America topped both Russia and Saudi Arabia in the sector, but the feat was drowned out by the wild fourth quarter, he said.
And the oil and gas renaissance has been great for the U.S. economy, he pointed out. But does that mean investors should put their money there?
Cramer warned viewers to pick pipeline stocks carefully because there are other factors that could hamper profit in the space.
Click here to find out what Cramer thinks about the oil market.
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The Gap's flagship store in San Francisco
Gap's split up is a "sobering reminder" that companies cannot "repurchase" their way to greatness," Cramer said.
He was critical that the retailer opted for stock buybacks, cutting outstanding shares more than half, in lieu of organic growth opportunities over the years. It's "pathetic" that shares of Gap gained just 5 points from $20 to $25 since early 2008, he said.
Gap's decision to separate Old Navy into an independent publicly traded company from its other brands unlocked value, sparking the stock's 16 percent rise following the Thursday announcement, Cramer said. The company posted mixed results for the holiday quarter.
"I know this may seem like pure financial legerdemain ... but I think it's a really fantastic idea and the move makes a ton of sense," he said. "Frankly, it's about time."
Find out how Cramer thinks Gap's CEO can turn the company around here.
Cramer's lightning round: Buy with caution
In Cramer's lightning round, he shared his responses to callers' stock questions:
Walt Disney Co.: "In candor, the stock rallied and we trimmed a little for the charitable trust, ActionAlertPlus.com. It had gotten too big. That's why. And we had to raise a little more money for distribution. Otherwise, I would tell you they got a big analysts meeting coming up, but I'm not gonna back away from that. But I did a little trimming, so I gotta be honest."
Wells Fargo & Co.: "I do [consider it a buy] and I think [CEO] Tim Sloan has got it right, but we gotta understand they got some hearings coming on the Hill and the hearing's going to be tough ... so you gotta be ready for that. But with a 3.6 percent yield and Warren Buffett's backing and the fact that this stock has done nothing in ages," buy.
Enphase Energy Inc.: "Enphase is the winner in this segment. ... This is a good one ... but I would like to have someone from the management team come on so I don't get hurt on this."
Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Disney and Apple.
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