The Stocks That Will Get Investors Home Safe When Tech Cracks Trey Thoelcke Fri, October 16, 2026 at 9:20 AM EDT 5 min read JNJ +0.65% KO +1.28% MRK +0.77% ^GSPC +0.10% CHD -0.00% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Cramer warns overconcentrated tech investors risk getting blown out, pointing to staples, pharma, and waste haulers as portfolio protection when data center stocks crack.
Coca-Cola is up 33%, Merck 36%, and J&J 22% year to date while health care quietly outperforms the S&P 500.
Profitable small-cap stocks now deliver double the returns of unprofitable ones, reversing last year's trend where losers led winners 2 to 1.
Just released. Our analysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now, and Johnson & Johnson didn't make the cut. Enter your email to see the names that beat JNJ. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.
Jim Cramer used his October 15 Mad Money broadcast to argue that every investor needs a designated driver for their portfolio. He pointed out that stocks with no data center exposure have been soaring as money flowed into non-tech names. The examples he gave included consumer staples, waste haulers, and pharmaceutical companies.
He also warned that overconcentrated investors risk getting blown out and giving up on stocks altogether, as many did in 2000, 2008, and 2022. Cramer made a similar case in June, during an earlier break in data center stocks: "These stocks will lag while the data center roars, but they preserve your sanity when you get a tsunami-like sell-off in the hottest stocks out there."
A Fast Money segment the same night picked up the theme: "All eyes are on semiconductors or hyperscalers, so nobody cares. Meanwhile, health care is doing some amazing things." The show added that health care "is outperforming the S&P 500 for the year."
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Small caps share the same preference for profits: "Profitable Russell 2000 stocks have double the performance of non-profitable ones... Last year non-profitable small caps outperformed profitable ones 2 to 1. Now it's essentially the opposite," according to On Investing, Charles Schwab's podcast. Volatility is creeping higher as well. The CBOE Volatility Index rose to 16.87 on October 14, which is still inside its normal range.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) shares are up 33.1% year to date. Second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.97 beat the $0.93 estimate, and management raised full-year guidance to 5% organic revenue growth and 9% to 10% comparable EPS growth, according to its 8-K filing. The chief executive credited an "all-weather strategy, building balanced, quality, top-line growth."
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) has raised its dividend for 70 consecutive years. Organic sales were flat in its fiscal fourth quarter. Fiscal 2027 guidance calls for core EPS to be in line to up 3% despite a roughly $1 billion commodity and transport drag. P&G still plans about $10 billion in dividends and $5 billion in buybacks.
Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) posted 5.8% organic growth, nearly double its 3% outlook, led by TheraBreath and Hero. It declared its 502nd consecutive quarterly dividend and raised its 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to $3.74 to $3.81.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is up 22.2% this year, though shares have fallen 5.2% over the past month and slid after a MedTech miss in its third-quarter report. Second-quarter oncology sales rose 17.3% to $7.41 billion. Investors are now asking whether the planned Orthopaedics separation can fix the medtech side.
Merck (NYSE:MRK) has risen 36.4% year to date. Keytruda franchise sales reached $8.37 billion in the second quarter, and Winrevair grew 75%. The chief executive characterized Keytruda's loss of exclusivity as "more of a hill than a cliff," citing a pipeline of over 20 new products. The quarter's adjusted loss of $0.13 per share resulted from a one-time charge related to the Terns Pharmaceuticals acquisition.
Waste Management (NYSE:WM) offers a different kind of stability. Core price rose 5.7%, and free cash flow grew 34.5% to $1.10 billion in Q2. Management cut revenue guidance but raised its margin outlook to 31.0% to 31.2%. Operating expenses stayed below 60% of revenue for the sixth consecutive quarter. The shares are up a modest 2.7% this year.
Start by listing every holding, index funds included, and estimate how much of the portfolio depends on AI chips, cloud spending, and data center construction. Broad market funds can carry significant weightings in megacap tech, so actual tech exposure may be larger than it appears. Then consider how the portfolio would do if that piece fell sharply.
Boring holdings earn their place by paying you while you wait. These companies keep paying dividends regardless of what chip stocks do. Third-quarter reports over the coming weeks will show whether pricing power and raised guidance hold up with consumers under uneven pressure. P&G's next dividend is scheduled to be paid on November 16.
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