Jim Cramer says the market rotation is punishing last year’s winners and reviving beaten-down stocks
by Luke Fountain · CNBCKey Points
- Jim Cramer said markets are correcting valuation extremes, with investors selling expensive winners to fund purchases of beaten-down stocks.
- He pointed to reversals across sectors, where former laggards are rebounding as last year’s leaders lose momentum.
- Cramer said these rotations are normal, often lasting days or weeks, and create new opportunities for disciplined investors rather than reasons to panic.
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CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday that investors are watching a classic market phenomenon play out in real time: a violent rotation where yesterday's winners become sources of cash and yesterday's losers suddenly come back into favor.
Cramer warned that these moments can feel chaotic — even irrational — but are often driven by valuation extremes finally snapping back toward equilibrium. He urged investors not to panic and to remember that rotations are how markets reset excesses and create the next set of opportunities.
"Sometimes things get out of whack with stocks at the beginning of the year," he said, adding that markets have an "astounding ability to correct itself right in front of you."
To illustrate, Cramer pointed to what he called the irony of the two Constellations.
Constellation Energy, long beloved by hyperscalers chasing clean power, surged roughly 185% over the past two years as enthusiasm for nuclear energy exploded. That love affair, Cramer said, pushed the stock into dangerously expensive territory, making it vulnerable once investors began looking for funds to redeploy elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Constellation Brands moved in the opposite direction, battered by rising costs, tariffs, shifting drinking habits among younger consumers and pressure from GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
The result, Cramer said, was a stock that may have been punished too severely, trading at a valuation that fails to reflect the enduring value of a global beer, wine and spirits franchise.
Cramer said this type of reversal isn't isolated pointing to how retail stocks flipped roles as well.
Walmart had been richly rewarded last year for helping inflation-weary consumers, while Costco lagged after internal changes and softer membership data.
But since the calendar turned, Cramer said money has flowed out of last year's leaders and into laggards with improving fundamentals — fueling Costco's rebound after stronger-than-expected sales.
The same pattern has appeared in technology, Cramer said.
Stocks that dominated portfolios in 2025 are now being trimmed to finance new positions elsewhere. That helps explain why Amazon has emerged as the best performer among the Magnificent Seven this year, while Nvidia has struggled to gain traction despite continued bullish commentary.
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