Stock Smackdown: Cramer vs. CAPS

There's no denying that Mad Money host Jim Cramer is entertaining, popular, and passionate. On many occasions, he's even right. So he's smart, funny, and the closest thing to a stock market rock star -- but is he smarter than you?

Cramming for Cramer
The Fool's free investing community, Motley Fool CAPS, aggregates the opinions of more than 130,000 members to assign ratings for each stock's likelihood of outperforming or underperforming the market.

Below, we look at some top stocks that Cramer picked and panned during last week's "lightning rounds," and compare them to how the CAPS community sees their future.

Cramer says …
Peter Lynch was famous for saying investors should buy what they know, and Jim Cramer thinks that's what people are doing with restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings. They're going in, eating the chicken wings, quaffing a few brewskis, and going home to hit the "Buy" button on their brokerage's website.

Shares in the Motley Fool Hidden Gems recommendation have more than doubled off their November lows, and Cramer thinks that anyone who’s continuing to hold at this point is just being greedy. "Ring the register," he says, because the impact of the possible swine flu pandemic is unknown right now. Quoting:

OK, this happens to be the second-hottest restaurant stock that I follow after Darden Restaurants … Buffalo Wild Wings, remember those fantastic CEOs … is it a co-seat situation … no, now it is just Sally Smith … I have got to tell you, can I just point out that Buffalo Wild Wings is one of these red-hot stocks where everybody likes the product and they buy the stock … I have to tell you that I think that chicken wings could come down in price … not clear right now, the effect of the swine flu … it does not matter … here is what I say … I say you are being greedy if you hold onto Buffalo Wild Wings … so let’s ring the register … so let’s do some sell, sell, selling … and not be greedy ...

CAPS says …
While 92% of the CAPS community rating the stock think there's more finger-lickin' opportunity for B-Dubs to continue outperforming the market, there are quite a few investors these days who suspect the stock's price has come too far, too fast. CAPS member sumbawa thinks there's a "disconnect" between what's happening with some restaurant stocks and what's been going on with consumer spending:

Many restaurant stocks seem overpriced right now, some at 52-week highs. Given what's happened to the consumer in the last year, there's a disconnect.

Similarly, top-rated CAPS All-Star tenmiles, who ranks at the top of the field with a perfect 100.00 player rating, suggests that if the stock were to give back some of its recent gains, it would be worth looking at again because it is operationally a sound business. But the stock has been on fire more than its own hot sauce, and that's something tenmiles just can't wash down:

Not wild about Wild Wings at current $42. Within the casual dining group, one of the better historical performers with strong SSS [same-store sales] and attractive returns on invested capital, but appears most of that is already built into share price near term. Sharp recent rise in price of price of chicken wings could easily impact future projections - would look to re-buy in the mid to low 30's.

Your say …
CAPS members may stand with Jim Cramer or on opposite sides of the field, but the investor-intelligence community is more than what some All-Stars think -- even if they are TV personalities. So what do you think? Is Cramer right or off his rocker? Head right now to CAPS and sound off on whether Buffalo Wild Wings is playing chicken with the market.

Motley Fool CAPS is a great place to start your own research on these stocks. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page. Best of all, it's free!